The Other Half
by Sabrina Empress of Insanity
Summary: Easy conversation is harder than people think...the friendship Syuichiro Oishi and Eiji Kikumaru share is definitely one of a kind. But it is just the magic that is the Golden Pair...or something more?
1. Chapter One: Easy Conversation

Author's Note: Wow. This will be the first major new piece of fan fiction I've done in a VERY long time…everything else is still on hold, but I've had an itch to write something for a while now, and so I figured….why not? I can't guarantee this will be any good, but regardless…I DO appreciate feedback and reviews. I encourage all feedback, including flames, because at least then I know people are reading and I have incentive to keep writing and get better at it. Anyway…enjoy!

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Chapter One: Easy Conversation

Anyone perfect must be lying; anything easy has its cost  
Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost  
What if I lost my direction, what if I lost sense of time?  
What if I nurse this infection? Maybe the worst is behind…  
-Barenaked Ladies, "Falling for the First Time"

"Oooooiii, ochibi-chan!"

If I'd been Echizen, I probably would have winced and told him to shut up. Then again, maybe I wouldn't have. This was Eiji, after all.

"Oishi." A hand landed on my shoulder, and I glanced back, curious.

"Oh. Momoshiro. What's up?"

"I was gonna ask you." Momo followed my earlier gaze. "What are you starting at? It must be interesting."

The lie slipped out easily enough. "Echizen. I was just wondering if you two have coordinated your games yet."

Momo winced, and his face fell. "That's low, Oishi."

I flashed him an easy grin. "I'm kidding, Momo. Nervous?"

He grinned back at me. "Not at all." He started to speak again, then winced. "Er, see you later then!"

I glanced back in the opposite direction as my teammate jogged away, and grimaced in sympathy. Inui was following, notebook in one hand….juice in the other.

Good luck, Momoshiro…..

Somewhere amidst the background noise, I could hear it: swoosh, clap, pause, swoosh, clap, pause, swoosh, clap….I didn't have to look to know what it was. If you asked me to pick Eiji's steps out of the entire team's warm-up, I could. If you asked me to pick out his breathing, I could probably even do that.

It wasn't that weird that I recognized all of my friend's habits even by sound….was it? We played together, of course I could pick out the sounds of his warm-ups, his footfalls, that fun, completely endearing racquet flipping trick I could hear right now. It made sense, didn't it? It wasn't that unusual for me to be able to pick out my partner and friend no matter where he was….right?

"Oishi!"

I let out a yelp of surprise and jumped what felt like a good three meters into the air. I blinked, startled, and sighed. "Eiji, you scared me."

Guiless eyes stared at me with amusement. "I noticed."

He wasn't that far away…just in front of me, in fact. That was what had startled me. I'd been too lost in thought to notice when he's left Echizen and returned to my side of the court. "What were you talking about?"

"Hmm?" Eiji sat next to me on the bench. "Oh, our ochibi-chan? Just asking him about his fan club. No real reason, though. I just didn't feel like leaving yet."

"Curiosity killed the cat," I commented, not at all serious.

Eiji winked, a wide smile on his open face. "That's the challenge, nya!"

I leaned back and watched as the remaining players finished cleaning up. Echizen was talking to those other first years that were always around him--well, talking or ignoring, depending on which side of the conversation you were on. Kaido was already heading out, racquet slung over one shoulder, walking sedately and solo away from the courts. Inui and Momoshiro were nowhere to be seen. I doubted Momo had succeeded in escaping.

Simple, every day scene. It happened every time practice ended. Tezuka watched from the sidelines. Fuji joined him once he was finished. Taka was already gone--he'd left early to help with a shipment at his father's restaurant. The other club members were packing up, picking up balls, chatting with one another as they left. And Eiji and I sat there, together, the Golden Pair, never really separate in anyone's eyes…Kikumaru and Oishi, always together.

Well, Eiji gets his due as himself. I'm just part of the duo. I'm the complement. Eiji's the acrobat. Eiji's the star.

I glanced over at my partner, studying his profile, the bandage on his cheek, the way the light reflected bleeding glory off his hair, the amused smile on his face as he watched the others.

I most definitely do not mind being his complement.

Eiji turned to me. "Hey, Oishi? Wanna get something to eat on the way home?"

Did Echizen have a perpetual stick up his ass? "Sure. Got an idea where?"

"Hmmm, maybe."

We shot ideas back and forth with equal ease and humor as we walked. I could've had this conversation in my sleep. As it was, I wasn't even thinking as I spoke. It was all autopilot, the rapport we seemed to have had since we met. I loved every moment, felt brighter with each word we exchanged, but I was still elsewhere.

No, I'd never want to be anything but his complement.

====================================================

"…whatever he puts in there, I'm not even sure those are legal!" Eiji shook his head to emphasize his point, mouth still half full. "You've tasted them, Oishi, they're toxic!"

I set down my drink. "I really think we're better off not knowing what he puts in there."

"You're not even curious?"

"Not really. It probably is illegal. It's bad enough Inui makes us drink that stuff, I don't need to know what it is I'm drinking, too."

Eiji looked at me thoughtfully, and swallowed. "Well, maybe."

Easy conversation is a lot rarer than people think it is. I've listened to people talk, even close friends and couples, but only sometimes do they have this kind of rapport, these conversations that flow effortlessly and never pause unless both of us want to. There are always tense moments, times when you can sense that someone's not saying what they really want to because of a fear of it being something bad, or words that seem to have an ulterior motive to them no matter how well concealed. I can't think of many times that's happened with me and Eiji. We've had our fights, sure, but even when we're just talking about nothing, everything just goes so smoothly. Light and easy, with no loaded words or questionable motives.

"So when do we get our own fan girls, huh?"

Questionable taste is another issue.

I smiled teasingly at Eiji. "Why? Jealous of Echizen's popularity?"

"They follow him like a rock star," Eiji pointed out, half annoyed and half amused. "Who has the best reflexes in Seigaku, huh? Who always has the easiest wins? Who looks best out there, hmmm?"

Maybe the lack of loaded questions isn't so…lacking. I answered exactly what I thought, not even bothering to omit anything. "You're confident. And so modest, too. Ego much?"

"I'm just saying we deserve fan girls, too." Eiji grinned, ignoring my words. "I don't hear anyone talking about how they're not sure the Seigaku first doubles team can win a game."

"Not much, anyway."

"So we need fan girls. Preferably older ones."

"No first years."

"Exactly."

"I knew you had to have a reason for talking to Echizen about them"

"Ah, Oishi, that's mean."

I grinned and took another drink. "Anyway, they're the whole team's fan club now. There's not nearly as much screaming of 'Echizen, Echizen!' as there used to be. It's mostly, 'Fight, Seigaku!' now."

"Yeah, that's--you're missing the point!"

I gave my friend a measuring look. "I am?"

Eiji's gaze turned inward for a moment. "Well, no. It seemed like the thing to say." He popped another set of fries into his mouth and chewed in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, or even a thoughtful one. It was just a pause, one that didn't need to be filled with chatter because of the promise in the air between us. I took another bite of my burger and shifted in my seat, pushing my bag a little further under my chair with my foot.

"We're out here so much," Eiji commented after swallowing. "They should start giving us a discount. Between the two of us, we eat more than Momo does during any given visit."

I took another quick sip of soda to help wash down the food faster. "That's not possible. Momo eats more in one sitting than the entire team does in a month."

"Nah. Not here. He stops by here every once in a while. We're regular staples, like that couple over there." Eiji gestured with his burger, then raised his eyebrows. "Oishi? What's up?"

I quickly schooled my face back into casual interest, and wondered how much of my startlement he'd caught. "Nothing. What makes you say that?"

Eiji's gaze was penetrating, curious, and I got the distinct impression that the confusion in his eyes was a complete sham. "Uh, it's true? We come here at least once a week. It's a regular thing. We should be getting couple's discounts or something...Oishi?"

I couldn't even imagine what my expression was at that moment. I certainly felt like someone had dropped a live fish down my throat. Luckily, we've never had to worry about saying the right thing around each other, even with small salmon wriggling somewhere around our larynxes. "Eiji, why do you keep saying things like that?"

"Why not?" The confusion in his eyes was _definitely_ false. Or maybe it just wasn't due to what I thought it was. "Are you all right, Oishi? You look funny."

I rubbed a hand over my face, and around the back of my neck. "I'm fine. You just startled me."

"Oh. Well, okay then." Eiji reached into the pile of fries and munched on a few more. He held one out with his free hand. "Want one? I'm almost full."

I took a moment to really look into my partner's eyes. There was nothing there other than cheerful companionship. But was there a flicker behind those eyes, something I'd missed before?

No. That was ridiculous. Eiji's heart was right out on his sleeve. He never hid anything from anyone. I wasn't even sure he could.

I reached out and took the fry, flashing a quick smile. "Thanks."

====================================================

A lifetime of understanding and friendship had gone by in the years that Eiji and I had been friends. I couldn't imagine not having him around any more. It was like he'd always been there.

I mentioned it to him between classes. "Do you remember what you did with your free time before coming to Seigaku, Eiji?"

He stretched out his legs over his desk and leaned back in his chair. "Of course. I practiced so I'd get on the team when I got here!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

"Well..." Eiji flashed me a wry grin. "Not all the time. Only the last couple of years. I did play a lot, though."

"I bet."

Eiji smiled so much. His teeth were almost too white. Once, when we were first years, I'd bought him a three-pack of toothpaste as a gag gift. He'd been thrilled. I'm not sure he knew it wasn't meant to be a serious gift. "Hey, Oishi, what did you do?"

I thought about it for a moment. It wasn't that long ago, but my memories of the past three years were much more vivid than those before. "Mostly studied and practiced. Sometimes I went out with my friends."

"What did you do with them?"

I shrugged. "The usual stuff friends do together. Nothing really sticks out."

"Yeah, me neither." Eiji let his head fall back over the back of his chair. "How boring things must've been before you met me, nya!"

I smiled and let out a short, long-suffering laugh. "You have no idea."

"It sounds more boring than my life before you!"

I looked at him, startled. Eiji sounded completely serious. "Eiji?"

The one-person circus of Seigaku was still stretched out with his head back so I couldn't see his face. "Hmm?"

I frowned, and shook my head, more to myself than in response to him. He couldn't even see it, after all. "Never mind. I don't know what I was going to ask."

Eiji popped back up with almost disturbing ease. "No, ask!"

I shook my head again. "It must've been nothing."

"Oh." Long legs swung back onto the floor, and the redhead leaned forward onto his knees. "Then can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

"Wanna get something to eat with me tonight?"

I had to smile at that. "Still hoping for a discount?"

"Nyaaaaa, Oishiiii! I'm serious!" Eiji's mouth twisted into a near pout, and his eyes were focused in the way that I associated with something of dire importance, or a really serious match. "Yes or no?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, yes. Why is it such a big-"

"Yes to grabbing a bite with a friend or yes to going out on a date with me?"

My jaw unhinged. "W-what?"

Eiji's face was painfully earnest, but he hardly seemed to realize what he was asking. "I like you, Oishi. Really, really, reeeeeally like you. So, wanna go out with me tonight?"

My face should've been flaming. As it was, it felt like my jaw was still scraping the floor. For the first time in a long while, I had no idea how to respond. What was I supposed to say to that? This went way beyond the realm of friendly conversation.

"S-sure."

Or maybe I did know how to respond.

Eiji's face split into a wide, ecstatic grin. He sprang out of his chair and pumped his fist in the air. "All right!" The other students in the room started to turn at his cheers. "I got a yes! I win!"

I looked around, panicked. "Hey, Eiji, people are-"

Any protests were suddenly silenced when Eiji flung himself at me, toppling both the two of us and the chair. I let out a startled yelp, but Eiji seemed totally oblivious. He laughed and fell against me as we hit the floor. I tried to push him away. "Ei-"

That was when he kissed me, and all the words fizzled away in surprise.

My eye darted around, part of my fully aware how this looked and exactly how many people were staring at us with varying expressions. Eiji's lips pressed against mine more insistently, and suddenly it didn't matter. He was so close to me...it was hard to breathe. My head felt too light, my chest too tight, the light was too bright...I had to close my eyes against the glare, and opened my mouth to try and get in a deeper breath.

But Eiji's mouth fit over mine so perfectly...breathing suddenly seemed much less important.

I pushed myself up onto my elbow, trailing my other arm up along Eiji's back before settling my hand at the base of his neck, pulling him closer. He pulled gently at my lower lip, sending a flash of heat through me, and let out a small, breathless laugh. I smiled back through half-lowered lids, and stretched up to meet his lips again. I couldn't remember where we were, or what we were supposed to be doing. I just wanted to feel that thrill again, taste the salt of his lips, feel his warmth around me, everything that sent those bells ringing in my head.

....bells?

I sat up, alarm clock in my hand, stunned. It was only habit that had me mechanically moving to turn the clock off. The rest of me was completely still. It was like I wasn't even there, save the frantic chattering in my head.

In all the time we'd known each other, I'd never kept anything from Eiji...except for this.


	2. Chapter Two: Laughing on the Inside

Author's Note: At some point in time, I'll develop a plot for this thing. Meh. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter! This chapter, I'm switch POV's because Oishi is kind of difficult for me to write...but I think I'd go crazy writing as Eiji the whole time, so I'll probably have a different POV each chapter. Whether it's just the Golden Pair or other characters as well remains to be seen. Anyway! This chapter it's Eiji. And I will now attempt to make a plot.

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Chapter Two: Laughing on the Inside

No one ever told me love could be practical  
And no one ever guessed that you'd be so wonderful  
And when you sign with smiles I fly away...  
-Sabrina Zirakzadeh, "Cyril"

"Eiji, you'll be late!"

"I won't!" The mirror slammed shut before everything could fall out of the cabinet behind it again, and I turned off the sink, reaching for a towel to dry my face. Someone pounded at the door. "Eeeeijiiii, hurry up!"

I made a face at the door and stuck my thumbs in my ears, wiggling my fingers. "I'm almost done, sis, promise!"

Sometimes my family could pass as sane. Mornings were never those times.

I finished putting away my toothbrush and toothpaste, wiped down the sink, and checked my reflection in the mirror. After a moment, I opened the mirror to grab a comb--and everything went crashing into the sink again. "Aaaaaaah! No way!"

"Eiji!" my mother hollered from downstairs again. "You only have fifteen minutes!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Everything somehow fit back into the cabinet again. The mirror slammed on the mess just before it tumbled out into the sink again. I turned the water on just the littlest bit and carefully went over my hair one last time. It didn't take too long to get it to lie down properly again. There were some days when my hair just didn't want to stop sticking out all over the place first try.

The boy in the mirror looked back at me and grinned slowly. "There. You're perfect."

"Eiji!"

I winced as both my mother and whichever sister was outside shrieked in unison, and decided now would be a good time to start out for school.

Mom passed off a lunch and my breakfast wrapped in paper to me as I dashed past. "Have a good day!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

"Remember to-"

Whatever else she'd been saying was cut off as I slammed out the door.

Eating on the run wasn't that new to me. It saved so much time, whether you were running late or early. Honestly, after all the training I'd gone through for the team, it really didn't take me long to get to school at all. Fifteen minutes was more than enough time if I really sprinted. I'd have to eat when I got to school, but I'd rather be there early and cramming down breakfast than get there just before the bell and miss out on time with Oishi.

Just thinking about him made me smile.

Some mornings I'd run into some of the other guys on my way in, usually Taka or Fuji. It was fun talking with them on our way to school, but talking with Oishi was on a completely different level. He didn't just listen to me like everyone else, and he didn't patronize me, ever.

Today was all about Oishi. There was no chance I'd run into anyone else, not this close to the bell. And once I was with Oishi, no one would interrupt us. It was like an unspoken rule: _You may talk to the Golden Pair only if they invite you in or respond positively to your overtures. You may not interrupt their conversation unless it is an emergency or they are clearly wrapping things up. You are not part of a Golden Trio or Golden Group; therefore do not disturb the Golden Pair._

I had to smile more at that thought. Maybe I'd write out the rules someday. The Guide to the Golden Pair. It had a nice ring to it. Oishi would find it very amusing.

The Golden Pair. I never got sick of hearing that name. Every time someone mentioned us at school like that, at a tournament, anywhere, I wanted to start laughing. It's hard enough to keep from smiling when you hear something like that and know it could so easily mean even more. Everyone thinks I wear my heart on my sleeve, but that's not always true. Sometimes I'm laughing on the inside.

I dashed into the school and up to the classroom, spending as little time at my box as possible before bursting into the room. A few of my classmates looked up briefly. Most of them kept chattering to one another or getting ready for class. Oishi smiled and me and waved as I hurried over. "Good morning, Eiji."

"Morning, Oishi!" I sang as I dropped into my seat and tore through the paper around the sausage and egg muffin my mother had made. I took a huge bite and tore off a small piece to offer to Oishi. "Want?"

"No thanks. I'm fine."

"Mmmkay." I took another bite without swallowing the first one, and realized my mouth was too full to speak. It was a few second before I could swallow enough to keep talking. "Whatcha doing after practice today?"

Oishi shrugged, but his eyes moved further away from my face. "I'm not sure. I might have to watch my sister tonight, but that's not till later. Why?"

I raised my eyebrows. Oishi had been acting strangely lately, ever since that day when I started joking about discounts. I wondered if maybe I'd scared him off a little. "I thought we could get some ice cream. Maybe with the rest of the team, too. We haven't gone out as a group in forever and I want ice cream."

Oishi smiled a little at that. "That's not a bad idea. I'll ask Tezuka how long practice is going today."

"Make him end it early. Ice cream is more fun than tennis right now."

"What's that?" Oishi put a hand to his ear. "Say that again? Eiji Kikumaru has something he likes more than tennis? I must be hearing things."

"Nyaaa, Oishi, that's just mean."

I mock-pouted and threw the ball of paper that had held my breakfast at him. He laughed as it bounced off his shoulder, caught it, and threw it right back at me. I leaned to the side, grinning as it flew past me and skittered to a halt on the floor just past my desk. The smile inside me was even bigger. Silly Syuichiro...and people called _me_ oblivious.

Of course there was always something I liked more than tennis. He was sitting right in front of me.

================================================================

There were a few problems with being best friends with the vice-captain of a seeded tennis team. Most of them seemed to revolve around the fact that he had to spend most of our break time during practice talking with the captain.

Of course, today I wanted him to. It didn't make me feel any less put out.

I watched Oishi from where I sat by the fence for a bit, and wrinkled my nose. It annoyed me that I could feel even the littlest bit jealous of his and Tezuka's friendship. It was nothing compared to what we had, and I knew it. Still...sometimes...

I stretched out my legs in front of me and bent over them, hands wrapped around my ankles, and tried to touch my nose to my knees. It almost worked. If I bent my knees a little bit...but that wasn't going to happen. I was bendy. I was flexible. I'd get there soon enough.

"Hey, Kikumaru!"

I turned my head to the side so that my ear almost brushed against my leg. "Hey, Taka! What's up?"

My teammate sat down beside me, his usual sweet, affable smile fixed on his face. "Nothing much. How do you do that? Doesn't it hurt?"

"Not really," I answered, rolling back up again and leaning against the fence. "It's just a stretch."

"Well..." Takashi looked sheepish. "I could never do anything like that."

"Sure you could!" I thought of some of the things I'd seen him do during the games he'd played. "It just takes time."

Taka looked at me shyly. "No...you've always been able to do that stuff without working hard at all." He looked around at the other regulars. Taka never was one to gesture much, most of the time. "Any of us could do what you do if we worked hard and kept at it, but you're something special. You, and Oishi, too. You two don't even have to try to be the best."

I wasn't sure how to respond. I laughed a little and rubbed a hand over the back of my head. "Well, maybe..."

Taka smiled again and waited. I couldn't think of a thing to say. The silence was unnerving. We spent plenty of time together, but it was always filled with chatter, even if it mostly came from me. I decided a subject change was in order. "You don't have to help your dad out at all today?"

"Not today." Taka shook his head. "He told me he was fine and that I should stop worrying about the shop and stay through practice more. He's worried I'm missing too many important things during clean-up."

I grinned and flashed him a quick victory sign. "He probably doesn't need you to worry, then. Don't worry! Although," I added thoughtfully, "you have the perfect excuse to get out of cleaning up the courts...maybe I should start helping your dad out, too!"

Before Taka could answer, a voice rang out across the courts. My ears perked up at Oishi's words. "Break's over! Regulars, we're running practice matches next!"

I sprang up, sweeping my racquet off the ground without having to even look for it, and hurried over to Oishi as the rest of the team made their way over to where Tezuka and Inui stood. He met me halfway, and we changed paths to join the rest of the team without even speaking.

I don't know why I could ever be jealous of his relationship with Tezuka. Taka was right. The Golden Pair was something special. We had something very special indeed.

================================================================

"I can't believe Tezuka let us go early!"

"It was only three minutes, Eiji."

I made a face at Oishi. "It's still early."

"Still," Oishi said, ignoring me and staring up at the sky, "this was a nice treat. Bringing the whole team was a great idea, Eiji."

I beamed. "Ice cream is always a good idea, nya! Especially with friends." I moved closer to Oishi and pushed his playfully with my shoulder. "Right?"

Oishi stepped away quickly, and his strides lengthened. "Right."

I frowned, and took two skipping steps to catch up. There was definitely something going on. Oishi was just acting weirder and weirder. No one else probably noticed, but I figured by now I knew my doubles partner better than I knew my own family. There was something off.

"Hey, Oishi, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

My eyebrows pulled together. He wasn't looking at me. This was just too weird. "Don't act like that, you've been acting really weird around me lately. What's going on?"

Oishi started to look back at me, then turned his gaze forward again. "Nothing's going on. You're being ridiculous, Eiji."

I frowned and flung my hands down by my sides, balled in frustrated fists. "I am _not!_ Stop it, Oishi, just tell me what's wrong!"

"Eiji!" Oishi turned, looking around nervously to see if anyone was staring. It really bothered me...it's not like I was throwing a tantrum like a little kid or something. Why should he act like he was ashamed of me? He never did that, never. "There is nothing wrong, all right?"

I stopped right there and put my hands on my hips. "You're lying. I know you are. I'm not moving until you tell me why you've been acting so weird."

Oishi put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. When he spoke, it was like he was talking to a little kid. I wanted to scream. Or cry. I wasn't really sure which. "How have I been acting weird?"

Why was he acting like this? It wasn't fair, and it wasn't at all like he was supposed to be. _Oishi, where are you?_ "You've been avoiding me," I snapped, trying not to pout. "Not running away or ignoring me, just avoiding me. If I ask if you want to do something, you make up excuses. If I try to joke around with you, you push me away. You won't look at me half the time, and I don't know why. Something is up and I want to know what!"

I knew my voice was spiraling up in pitch, going into whine territory. I didn't care. Oishi finally looked at me, and his expression was startled. Startled, and something else. I strained my eyes, trying to see what it was, but I just couldn't.

Oishi stared at me for a moment, then looked away, almost like he was embarrassed. "It's just," he started, "I...Eiji, we've been doing everything together almost nonstop lately, and..." He sighed, and put that hand to his head again, expression flustered. "It's been almost too much."

I froze, and wondered if my face reflected the way my heart had seized up. It didn't matter--Oishi wasn't looking at me, he wouldn't have seen anyway. "You're a very very good friend, Eiji, but sometimes...sometimes even good friends..."

I didn't want to look at him anymore. I looked down at the ground, and tried to breathe. It hurt, it hurt like something was poking into my lungs with every breath.

I could see him look up from the corner of my eye before I dropped my gaze again. "Eiji, I'm not sure if you're really my friend and partner or if-"

I couldn't listen. I couldn't stay silent and listen to this. "Oishi!"

Oishi stopped, and after a moment I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Eiji?"

He sounded concerned, the way he always did when someone was hurting, either physically or emotionally. It was like things had always been between us. But...

I reached up and shoved his hand away violently, not looking at him. I didn't want him to see me like this. I didn't want him to see the hurt in my eyes. If he wasn't even sure we were friends anymore, I didn't want his comfort. "Oishi....you _idiot!"_

I pulled away from him, still not looking up. I had to close my eyes against the anger I could feel suddenly burning there. "You big, stupid _idiot!_ Don't talk to me anymore! I don't want to hear it!" The scream that had been building up burst out of me, and without waiting to hear his response or see his face, I pushed past him and started running for home.

It hurt to breathe, but I ran as fast as I could despite the pain. I never ran that fast, except at practice and to get to Oishi. Now I ran to get as far away from him as fast as possible. My feet slammed into the pavement furiously as my own anger and hurt boiled, but my heart didn't pound like it usually did. I thought for a moment about all those stories about broken hearts before I pushed that aside, too. Oishi didn't break my heart. Oishi wasn't worth a broken heart. He clearly didn't think I mattered enough anyway.

But maybe that's what's making it hurt so much to breathe.

================================================================

My mother used to tell stories about how I was afraid of the dark. I always begged her not to, but I remember it just as well as she did. My brothers would tell stories to me to scare me, stories about the demons that came out at night, the witches and ghosts and evil spirits that could cross over into our world at midnight and wreak destruction on the sleeping world. They told me about the spirits that awoke at midnight to steal our souls, or to take away our lives on a whim just because it amused them. I was terrified of the dark.

If I ever woke up a night, I'd start screaming, convinced it was always midnight and that the creatures would sense I was awake and kill me so I couldn't tell anyone that I'd seen them. In the daytime I knew better, and even when I went to bed. But late at night, even if it wasn't really midnight, everything seemed so much more serious than just brotherly teasing.

The dark times were always midnight.

"Eiji?" My mother knocked on my door. "Eiji, you barely ate tonight. Are you sure you don't want something else?"

"I already brushed my teeth," I called back tiredly.

"Eiji, are you sure you're all right? Are you sick?"

I rolled over so I wasn't facing the door. "I'm fine, Mom. We had a tough practice today. I'm just tired."

There was silence for a moment. "If you're sure..."

"I am. Don't worry, Mom. Good night."

I could hear her faint sigh through the door. "Sweet dreams, Eiji."

I waited until her footsteps faded away down the hall before burying my face in my pillow and screaming. My throat felt raw by the time I was finished, but I could barely hear the muffled sounds from my pillow. I wrapped my arms around it and turned my head to the side as I hugged my pillow closer, tightly enough that my arms ached.

Stupid, stupid Oishi. What's wrong with him, anyway?

My breath caught, and I forced myself to swallow past the lump in my throat. I was furious at him, absolutely livid. But I hurt more than anything else.

Around Oishi, I always felt safe and happy. I didn't need to be serious. I'd thought he would always accept me any way I was. I never thought he'd say anything like that.

Right then, and every time I was away from him, it was always midnight.


	3. Chapter Three: Midnight Silence

Author's Note: All right, I finally have a plot that spans multiple chapters! . Hopefully I can develop it into something that will last even longer. Anyway...this chapter it's Oishi again. For now I'll just stick to writing these two, but that's not to say I won't add in more of the cast's POVs later. Oh, and before I forget...I recently started up a TeniPuri RPG on GreatestJournal, and we're still recruiting. It's at if anyone wants to join. We need a Momo, desperately!!! All right, end shameless promotion here. Enjoy!

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Chapter Three: Midnight Silence

_Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep  
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes  
And leap...  
_-Idina Menzel, "Defying Gravity"

I told myself I didn't have a headache. I'd just had a rough night, that's all. It was just the stress from school and practice catching up with me. That was all.

Of course, the minute I saw Eiji I knew I wouldn't be able to convince myself of that anymore.

I dropped my head onto the desk and closed my eyes. The coolness that soothed the few places where my skin pressed against the desk was like a brief reprieve. I felt fevered, tired, sick, and understandably so. I knew I wasn't actually sick, but when you can't sleep for even one night, it seems like you are anyway.

I turned my head to the side, resting my cheek against the desk now, and stared out the door at the students going by. Class started in about fifteen minutes. I'd been there almost an hour. There just hadn't seemed to be any point in staying in bed any longer. It wasn't as if I were getting any more rest lying there worrying.

Pain lanced through my head and I closed my eyes again for a moment as I sat up, pressing two fingers to my forehead. I was not going to stress over this. I just felt sick because I hadn't slept. And I hadn't slept because I had insomnia. It had nothing to do with Eiji and what had happened yesterday.

Still...twelve minutes before class started, and he wasn't here talking to me before going off to his own room. Eiji was always here by now.

Right. Who did I think I was kidding?

I stifled a sigh, and it turned into a yawn. I suppose I deserved it. Everyone else might talk about how Eiji was immature and kind of grating on the nerves, but I'd never thought so. I loved spending time with him. We were relaxed around each other the way I never was with anyone else. I'd found him soothing, cheering, just a good person to be around. And I'd never thought of him as a kid, as immature. He might not have ever acted particularly serious around me, but if he felt as comfortable with me as I did with him, why should he have to be? Besides, I could be serious enough for both of us.

But I never was, not around him. All the things I worried about seemed so unimportant around him. We were both kids, still. I'd never treated him as anything but my equal.

I should have known he'd notice if I tried to keep something from him. I'd let those dreams mess me up too much. I couldn't blame him for being angry with me.

_No. I don't want to think about this._ I tried to stop thinking so much, and concentrated on the snippets of conversation drifting in through the open door as the other students roamed the hallways heading to class.

"And did I tell you, he took my journal again! I swear, Mom and Dad let him get away with too much-"

"-take a break from cram school because she had a breakdown at home, that's what I heard-"

"-not really my type. Now, her sister on the other hand, high school-"

"-always works. Tezuka looks at you like you're goofing off and you never get a chance to."

"Well, it's still annoying! Can't you talk to him about it?"

All the other voices went through a filter and I could only hear those last two anymore. I turned towards the door, even though I knew I'd recognize my teammates' voices without mistake.

"I'm not in charge, Eiji. Why don't you ask Oishi?"

Eiji's expression went hard as they passed the door, and he lifted his chin into the air. "No thanks. I'd rather not speak to him, thank you very much."

I shoved myself out of my chair, almost knocking it over, and tried not to blush when my other classmates turned to look at me. I hesitated, then hurried out the door. "Eiji!"

The acrobatic figure froze, tensed, but didn't turn. Fuji, on the other hand, looked over his shoulder with that amicable smile of his. "Ah, Oishi. Good morning."

"Good morning," I answered absently, walking briskly to catch up with them. Fuji turned completely, smiling curiously at Eiji when he didn't turn. With obvious reluctance, Eiji sighed heavily and turned slowly, eyes focused and cold. "Morning, Oishi."

"Is there something wrong?" Fuji asked, as casually as if he were just talking about the weather. "You look pale."

"I-" I suddenly found myself worrying that my bangs were matted from lying against the desk, and ran a hand over my head quickly. "I didn't sleep well."

"Hmmm."

"Is that all?" Eiji interjected coolly. "Fuji and I should get to class."

I glanced at the clock in the hall. Seven minutes. "Oh. Sorry. Eiji, can I just talk to you really quickly?"

"What, more?"

"Excuse me." Bowing smoothly, Fuji stepped back. "I need to speak with our teacher before class. Eiji, I'll see you there?"

Eiji turned, expression so shocked that I almost laughed. Fuji merely smiled again and continued on his interrupted way. "See you at practice, Oishi."

"Fuji!"

It was harder to bite back the laughter this time.

Then Eiji turned back to me, expression annoyed and bitingly dismissive. "What is it?"

This wasn't the time to pay attention to the pain in my chest, the shortness of breath, the way that even in anger those blue eyes were so beautiful...I plunged right ahead. "Eiji, I'm sorry. I didn't explain myself yesterday, I ended up hurting you, and I'm sorry."

I saw the moment's shock before he covered it back up again. "Really. Why should you care?" He tried to sneer. It didn't work very well on his face. "I thought we were getting too close for comfort."

I winced. That hurt. It hurt, but I suddenly understood his anger. "Eiji, that wasn't what I meant." I struggled for the words. "I meant that...hmm." This was tricky. I couldn't tell him the real problem. I couldn't tell him about the dreams, the thoughts that whirled in my head when I looked into his face and wanted to lean in for a closer look. "Eiji, I didn't mean that I want to spend _less_ time with you."

Wide blue eyes narrowed, then softened, and when Eiji spoke the coldness was tinged with confusion. "What did you mean then?"

Great. This could get tricky. I closed my eyes for a moment and hoped that the right words would come to me. "I think I meant that I'm confused, or maybe scared. You've been a very good friend for years, Eiji. You probably know more about me than anyone else. I don't mind that." I managed a weak but genuine smile. "It's almost comforting, actually. It means I don't have to hide anything from you because I know you won't care."

I chanced another glance at his face. It had been a little frightening, being unable to read him even for a moment. The relief I felt at the moment having passed was beyond scale. There was still distress on his face, but softer, more hurt than laying blame.

"What I meant to say yesterday wasn't that I don't want to spend time with you." I ran a hand over my hair nervously and made myself look right into his face. It was always so open. He was always so open. Why did I feel like I had to hide from him when I knew he'd never hide anything from me? "You're the only person I have that kind of relationship with, and it's scary. I don't know what to think."

Eiji blinked, and the hurt bled away. He stared at me for a moment, then smiled almost shyly. "Really?"

I held up my hands, palms facing him. "I swear. I wasn't trying to upset you." I took a step closer and dropped my hands. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

There was a moment where I wasn't sure what he'd say. His gaze was fixed on me in that oddly focused way again, expression unreadable. Then it passed, and Eiji broke into a huge smile. "Yeah. okay." He moved a little towards me and held up a hand. "Sorry for being so dramatic."

I grinned, feeling a thousand times lighter already, and slapped my hand against his. "It's all right. I figured it was just a misunderstanding."

Eiji nodded, gripping my hand for a moment. "All right! The Golden Pair is stronger than any misunderstanding!"

The bell rang suddenly, and the other students still roaming the halls sped up to get to class. Eiji's grip tightened for a split second before he pulled away. "Aaaah, I have to go!" He turned back to me, an annoyed pout on his face. "See you at practice?"

"Of course. What else would I be doing?"

I waved as my friend flashed another quick grin at me and turned to dash off down the hall. Only when he turned a corner near the end of the corridor did I head back into my own room. I was still smiling with relief when the teacher entered and started taking attendance.

The headache was completely gone.

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"Mom says you're welcome to stick around!" Eiji dropped onto the bed beside me and bounced once before settling into place. "She seemed really happy that I asked. She says you don't stay for dinner often enough."

I looked up from my homework for a brief moment. "I don't want to impose, that's all."

"It's not imposing, we like having you here." The mattress beneath me sagged a little more as he leaned in closer to stare at the work in my lap. "My parents think you're a good influence, my sisters think you're cute, my brother's think you're all that, being vice-captain and all, and obviously I like you here."

"All right, all right!" I passed his books back over to him. "Here. You need to get to work."

"Ah, Oishi..."

"I said I'd come over to give you a hand with your homework, not just to hang out." I leaned back over my own books. "We can do that when we're done."

I didn't have to look up to feel Eiji sticking his tongue out at me. A small smile pulled at my lips automatically, but I didn't speak. After a moment, I heard a dramatic sigh practically right in my ear, and the bed moved again as Eiji twisted around and onto his stomach to work.

For a while, there was silence, save the scratching of pencils on paper and the occasional rustle of turning pages or the clicks of our mechanicals pencils. I glanced over at Eiji occasionally to check his work. For all his complaining about not understanding the assignments, he never seemed to need any help.

I wondered how much longer I'd be able to convince myself that I wasn't admiring the way his hair fell away from the part on his head and imagining what it would be like to kiss that tiny strip of uncovered skin.

Eiji rested his chi on his hand, tapping the pencil against his book while he kicked his legs in the air restlessly. "Nya, Oishi, there's no simple square root to 746, right?"

"Not that I know of."

His lips pursed in thought, and I had to look away as an image of them against mine brushed through the haze of numbers and formulas in my mind. "Hmm. All right. Just wanted to check."

I swallowed with what seemed to me to be an audible click in my throat. "Yeah, I'm sure it's a radical of some kind."

"Okay. Thanks."

I nodded and gratefully went back to work.

More silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, not at all. We had talked, we had played around, and now there was no need for sound. It was nice to not have to fill the silence. It was almost more companionable than speaking, because only with the sort of bond we had could we have stayed in silence as much as we did and still feel like a thousand years of speaking had gone by.

Dinner came and went quickly, once Eiji was actually bother to work. Dinner with the Kikumaru family was much more exciting than meals at my own home. There were always so many people there, all talking and arguing and eating at once. I still wasn't able to pick out actual conversations or people from the mass of noise.

"Pass the udon, Mom."

"Dad, Eiji's kicking me!"

"Not on purpose! Don't be such a girl!"

"They're overrated."

"Yeah, no one likes that restaurant anyway."

"More rice, please."

"I am not failing! Stop trying to get me into trouble!"

"It's a good thing you have smart friends, otherwise you'd never get anywhere in the world."

"I can get into any high school I want to, shut up."

"But I like his music, and he's so dreamy, don't you think, sis?"

"I still think she's better looking."

"Who, me?"

"No, his girlfriend, doofus."

"Don't be mean, Eiji."

"And I hate that brand of toothpaste anyway, Dad, I swear I didn't use it all no matter what he says!"

"Oishi, would you like some more tea?"

"I don't have to share him, he's my friend."

"But I was just flirting a little bit."

"Can I have desert?"

"Get some for your friend, Eiji, and don't leave the dishes in your room again."

My friend nodded and bounced up, scooping his dishes up smoothly. My head was still spinning, but in a good way. I adored his house, his whole family, their entire world. Eiji might complain about it but even with all the sibling and parental hostility, there was so much warmth amidst the chaos that I couldn't help but love it all.

"We have green tea ice cream or mochi." Eiji's voice drifted over to me as I wandered into the kitchen with my own dishes. "Which do you want?"

"The ice cream sounds good." I set my dishes neatly beside the sink. My partner's were dumped haphazardly in the sink with the air of someone who knows their brother is in charge of clean up that night and wants to make things as difficult as possible. "Did you like the meal?"

"Yeah, of course. Minus people being moronic. Okay, it's not just me, right? My sisters really are that annoying tonight?"

"I didn't think they were." I pulled two bowls out of the cabinet and walked over to where he was opening the ice cream tin. "I complimented your mom on the food. It was better than usual tonight."

"Oh, you just like sucking up to her, nya."

The family complaints continued right up to his room and through the bowls of ice cream and the secret pocky stash in his bookcase. Halfway through a rant about shower times, Eiji stopped and shot me a surprised look. "Hey, you want to stay the night? It's pretty late and it's not like we have school tomorrow."

"Sure, why not." I glanced at the clock in surprise. "I need to get to bed soon, though. We don't have time for a movie or anything. I have chores tomorrow and I took on my sister's in exchange for her taking dish duty when we had that emergency practice on Thursday."

"No problem." Eiji headed over to his dresser and started going through it. "Warm or cool stuff?"

I grinned. We'd done this often enough that we'd each gone out and made sure to buy different pajama sets for one another. "It's pretty warm out tonight."

A pair of blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt with English written across it flew through the air towards me. "I have to get up early tomorrow too, so we may as well crash now. We'll talk for the next hour anyway."

"Sounds good." I started to pull off my shirt, then glanced at Eiji and felt color rising in my cheeks. He was a bit faster than I was. It wasn't as if we hadn't seen each other in next to nothing before, especially in the locker rooms before and after tennis, but after all the dreams and weird thoughts going through my mind...

Eiji yanked his own shirt over his ears and turned to look at me with the neckline still caught on his chin. "Oishi?"

I quickly turned away and went back to changing. "What time do you have to be up?"

"Oh, just by nine. I have to get my racquet restrung and then Dad promised he'd come with me to get some new shoes. I'm broke and he won't lend me the money. He thinks I'll spend it on other stuff."

"You will."

"Meanie."

I lifted my folded clothing off the bed and set it beside the door before turning back to the bed. Eiji flung himself onto it and bounced a little with a grin. "Mom hates it when I do that. It's fun, though."

"Don't you have to brush your teeth or something?"

"I did, while you were downstairs helping with dishes. You didn't have to, it's not my night."

"I was just being polite."

We fought with each other over the covers for a bit before I relaxed into the bed and Eiji pulled his up to his chin and pouted. "You'll make me look bad."

I laughed, and flipped off the lamp. "You don't need my help. Your family is all insane anyway."

"Wow, and did you know the sky is blue? And the sun sets in the west?"

"Knock it off, I get it."

We lapsed into silence for a moment. I shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable. The pillows were softer than I was used to, but it didn't matter. It was kind of nice, like falling asleep in a cloud. I could hear Eiji moving around, and the bed shifted madly beneath us. He'd never been a very restful sleeper.

I smiled to myself and stared at the ceiling. "Oh, Eiji-"

Anything I'd been about to say was silenced when my breath choked in surprise. Eiji was suddenly pressed up against me, arms wrapped around me tightly. "Eiji?"

"You're like a giant teddy bear," he joked, lifting his head to flash me an impish smile for a moment before snuggling up closer to me. "It's so stupid how people think they get too old for stuffed animals."

"Yeah," I managed, "you'll never be too old for that."

"Nope." He sighed, and went silent again. I finally succeeded in getting my heart to beat normally again. This shouldn't be that surprisingly. The kid moved like an acrobat in his sleep, too. And if his pillow didn't end up twisted in his arms at some point, all the blankets would. It wasn't the first time I'd been a temporary body pillow.

"Hey, Oishi?" The words were hesitant. "Do you think I'm not serious enough?"

"No." I moved one of my arms so that I wasn't lying on it so much. "What gave you that idea?"

It took a moment before he replied. "Well, I don't think I have to be around you. Everything seems more fun with you. I just wondered if you thought it was weird, that's all."

I shook my head. "Not at all. You don't have to act any differently around me, Eiji. I like you the way you act already."

"Good." His breath was warm against my arm. "Why is it always midnight when you aren't here?"

"I beg your pardon?"

He sighed. "It's nothing."

"Eiji, it's 10:30 or so."

"It's always midnight when it gets dark," he muttered so quietly that at first I wasn't sure he was talking to me. Then his voice took on a mock-ominous tone. "Always miiidniiiiiight...."

I smacked him lightly. "Quit it."

He laughed and curled closer around me. I tried not to tense, and somehow kept my tone light. "Eiji, I can't be your body pillow all night."

"Yes you can. You're the only thing long enough." He sighed, and tightened his arms. "Besides, this feels nice."

I laughed nervously, and suddenly couldn't say a word.


	4. Chapter Four: Emergency Realignment

_Author's note: Whee college. There, that's out of the way...now. Two things: this week I got in my copy of the K2 Company Golden Pair doujinshi anthology, "Darling," and when you spend two hours talking with a 9th grade Japanese girl about how wonderful those two are together as a result and get assigned to discuss and summarize said book for class, you get inspired. And second, I finally figured out when this story is set! Still plotless more or less, but I have a timeframe within the series now! Yay! Joy! Rapture! Happiness! Ahem. I want to thank everyone for reviewing. The feedback I've gotten has been very good, but more than anything the thoughtful reviews are just blowing me away. I've never gotten so many on so few chapters (this is shaping up to be only the third thing I've written to break 20 reviews and it's massively shorter than the other two!) and never with so much thought behind each comment! I really appreciate it, and the constructive feedback as well…please keep it up, I try and incorporate all your thoughts and suggestions into each new chapter! This time it's Eiji. Enjoy!_

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Chapter Four: Emergency Realignment

_"When I see you, it's like I'm staring down the sun  
And I'm blinded, there's nothing left to do  
But still I see you."  
-_Third Eye Blind, "Blinded"

Oishi was so still, it was like he really was a pillow. He slept soundly, every time I'd spent a night with him. He never tossed and turned like me, unless he did when I wasn't around. But I didn't care what he did when I wasn't around. Or rather, I did…I cared about him even when we were apart. I just wished we never were.

I pressed myself closer to him, moving my hands a little higher so they were clasped around his chest. There, now I could feel it—the slow, soothing rise and fall as he breathed, the faint relaxed beating of his heart. I buried my face against his neck and tried to match his rhythm, to mirror him perfectly like in practice.

And I was very careful not to breathe against him so he might wake up.

Someday, Syuichirou, I'll be able to do this when you're awake, too. Someday I'll be able to be with you like this without ever having to leave you. In just a few years…once I get the heck away from this insane family.

A faint sleep sigh drifted over from Oishi's lips and he shifted slightly, so that he was lying more on his back than his side. I loosened my grip just enough to let him, and tightened my arms the second he was still. Who needed sleep? This was more therapeutic than rest anyway. Oishi just made me feel relaxed and energized and completely happy no matter what.

The door to my room was open enough that a sliver of light fell onto the bed. There always seemed to be a light on at my house. Who knew why. Still, it was enough to remind me that I couldn't stay like this all night. No one would dare barge in on me this late at night, but come morning, all rules would be off. I wondered who it would be tomorrow, barging in to wake me up and drag me out of my comfortable sleep world while Oishi already sat downstairs eating breakfast with my parents.

Still, as much as I didn't want to sleep and lose my grasp on my friend with the first restless toss, I didn't mind. It would happen again. And I didn't need to be this close to be happy around Oishi anyway. Just knowing he was there and that he would never try and share the bond we shared with anyone else even if he could was enough for me.

I lifted my head off the pillow for a moment and smiled at the figure sleeping in my arms. _Sweet dreams, Syuichirou._

I lightly brushed my lips over his cheek and snuggled back into the pillows again. This time, I tried to sleep.

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"Oishi versus Momoshiro." Inui never took his eyes off the roster her read from. "Kaido versus Fuji. Kikumaru versus Echizen. Kawamura versus Tezuka." He let the roster fall and pushed his glasses up his nose with his free hand. "Each pair has similar styles in regards to approaching their opponents; offensive, defensive, speed-based, distance-based. Working in these pairs there is an 87 percent chance you will have to adopt a different style, a 74 percent chance you'll be forced to alter your defense, and a 96.8 percent chance your games will improve as a result."

"Good." Tezuka nodded once and stepped forward again. "First up, Kaido and Fuji."

"One last thing."

My stomach dropped and from the looks of the others' faces, they knew what was coming, too. Inui held out a glass brimming with a dull green liquid fizzing sickly. "Losers must drink this...my new, extra-vitamin formula Inui juice."

The stifled groans and horrified looks made me feel like less of a wimp, but they didn't make me feel any less sick. Sometimes I swore Inui had a masochistic streak a mile long.

The rest of us stood to one side while Kaido and Fuji prepared, whispering complaints to one another. I could hear Takashi's panicked hiss at Mom. "There's no way I can win against Tezuka! I'm doomed!"

I leaned against the fence and turned to Oishi. "How come I always have to play against our ochibi? Every time, haven't you noticed?"

"Not every time," he answered with a wry smile.

"Well, most of the time. Inui wouldn't keep doing that with a reason, though, would he?"

"Well, probably not." Oishi's brow creased. "He's right, though, you two play awfully similarly, at least out of everyone on this team. You both try to intimidate on the court, you aim for your opponent's feet too close for him to easily retuned, you-"

"Oishiiii! That's not the point!" I frowned. "Inui's up to something. That's why he always puts me with Ochibi...he's plotting."

"Or maybe he wants Echizen to improve and get some more variation in his plays and you're his best match to do so."

"Eh? Why?"

Oishi's smile made me glow inside. Anyone else would've made the words condescending, but not him. They were completely honest and nothing more than joking advice shared with a friend and equal. "Not everyone has someone covering all their weaknesses on the court, Eiji."

I relaxed a little and turned my hand palm up at my side. Oishi slapped his own against it and grasped my hand firmly afterward. My pulse fluttered and my fingers tingled brightly. I tightened my grip too, and inside I went all smiles.

There was a game I played every time we won a game, got through a successful practice, any time there was an excuse for a high-five. Each time, I'd see how much longer I could hang onto his hand without things getting awkward. I could go for pretty long sometimes. Who needed hand-holding and public displays of affection? I had mastered the art of hidden dating.

The seconds counted off in my head and my insides twirled. _One...two..._

Oishi pulled his hand away suddenly, much sooner than normal, and violently, like he'd been burned. My breath froze, but I kept from turning on him and demanding to know what was wrong. That would just make a scene, make Oishi embarrassed, and guarantee another twenty laps from Tezuka at the end of practice. Instead, I peered at him sideways and raised my eyebrows questioningly.

Except Oishi wasn't even looking at me. His gaze was riveted on the match unfolding on the court, but his eyes were somewhere else entirely. His postured had gone rigid, and there was a faint flush to his cheeks...no, I must've been imagining that part. Still, he was definitely avoiding my gaze.

I frowned to myself and turned my eyes back to the match. It was bound to be over soon. Fuji was even more sadistic than Inui; why else would he voluntarily drink that poison? Still, even while I watched and took notes to apply to my own game, I couldn't stop thinking about how strange Oishi was acting...and wonder why.

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"It must be nice, always knowing what you'll be playing."

Fuji smiled faintly at me, his voice amused. "You know what you'll be playing in every tournament, too, you know." His tone took on another layer, one I couldn't quite pick up on...but I got the distinct impression I was being mocked somehow. "You and Oishi are our star pair."

I laughed, embarrassed, unsure how to respond. "Yeah, well..." For some reason, I was never sure how to respond to praise from Fuji. I probably cared for him more than anyone but Oishi and we were certainly just as close, but... "We just cover each other's weaknesses well, that's all."

"Yes, I heard you two talking during practice."

My smile froze and I let out a laugh. "Weren't you...um...playing?"

Fuji stared at me for a moment and his smile grew the slightest bit. "Not really."

"I see." This was exactly the sort of thing that made my relationship with Fuji so incredibly weird sometimes. "So that's why you lost so quickly."

"You did well against Echizen. I'm sorry you didn't get to try the new recipe."

I suppressed a shudder even though I knew Fuji could still tell. Why we were friends I wasn't sure. He was _beyond_ freaky at times. And he liked confusing and scaring me a little too much for comfort. "Um, I bet Inui's glad you liked it?"

Fuji just smiled and didn't say anything for a moment. He switched his water bottle to the other hand and titled his head at me. "You aren't nervous about the match coming up, are you?"

"No. Should I be?"

Fuji looked away, straight ahead, and sipped at his water thoughtfully. "You've seemed anxious lately. Or perhaps unsettled? Maybe that's closer?"

There was a piece of rice stuck in my teeth. I worried at it with my tongue, distracted. "Dunno. What do you mean?"

"Oh, you just seem less comfortable at certain times lately. You mean you haven't been?"

My teeth felt too tight. Stupid rice...why did Fuji always want to make me think about whatever it was we were talking about when there were more important things to do? I flicked at the rice with the tip of my tongue harder. No effect. I caved and picked the stupid thing out with a fingernail then let out a relieved sigh. "Ah, much better. What are you talking about, Fuji?"

There was a long moment of silence. Fuji took another sip and moved his shoulders. "Well." He raised his eyebrows. "You have floss with you, don't you?"

"Fuji." I shot him a look. "Get real. I can't brush before I'm done eating, it makes everything taste funny."

"You could just floss. It would've gotten that rice out faster."

"Shut up, Fuji."

"My, you're in a bad mood today." Fuji's voices held a note of light teasing. "Did you have another fight with Oishi?"

I almost dropped my chopsticks. "What? No!" Fuji was staring at me with an intensity that had me fighting not to blush, even though I had nothing to be embarrassed about. "Where did _that_ come from?"

His voice was a little too unconcerned for my taste as Fuji looked up at the sky again. "Last time you were this testy was when you had that argument with Oishi not too long ago."

My brows knitted and I couldn't keep from frowning. Fuji was pushing me. He was better at it, more subtle than the rest of my friends, but he was definitely pressing me for information about something and I didn't appreciate it. "I'm not in a bad mood, Fuji, and if I am, you're not helping it."

When Fuji turned back to me, his expression had softened to simple concern, and I immediately felt a little guilty. Sure, he was digging but it was because he was my friend. And now that he mentioned it, things had seemed a bit off lately. There wasn't anything distinct wrong, really, just something a bit out of whack. I was weighing my words more around Oishi, guarding my reactions to him; he seemed to be doing the same, keeping me at a distance, not touching, and I wasn't sure why. It was like a fog over everything...

Jeez. No wonder Fuji thought we'd had a fight.

"Nya, Fuji?" I leaned in closer to him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Forgive me?"

Fuji studied me for a moment, then smiled. "Of course. It's all right." He pushed himself up from the steps suddenly. "It's almost class time."

"Eh?!?" I crammed the last of my gyoza into my mouth and hastily swept up my things as I sprang to my feet. "I still haven't brushed yet!"

"You have ten minutes still."

I threw my arms around Fuji for a moment before taking off for a bathroom. "Thanks, Fuji! See you in class!"

I could hear him calling after me. "Be careful not to run into anyone!"

Even as I laughed, I found myself hoping I would-if that someone were Oishi. Even with the strangeness between us, I wanted to spend every possible moment near him. If I could even spend three seconds at his side, I could go to class without going crazy missing him.

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If Oishi wasn't at my side in the next three seconds, I was going to go crazy. As it was, most of the rest of the team already had. Oishi was never late like this without a good reason.

Once Tezuka was off the phone, we found out what that reason was. I had to hand it to Oishi even as my stomach plummeted. Being in the hospital was definitely a good excuse.

"Leave it to Oishi to actually end up helping a pregnant woman in labor." I tried to keep my voice light. "And here you and Ochibi thought that excuse was dead."

Momoshiro looked over at me, uncharacteristically silent and serious. "Yeah."

I jiggled my leg nervously and tightened my grip on it to make myself stop. "Then again, I guess a sprained wrist is never a bad excuse. It's just the irony of how he got it, you know?"

"Eiji." Fuji put a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down. If you're nervous, it can't be making Momo any less so."

I flashed him a smile and knew for once I wasn't fooling anyone. "I'm not nervous. Don't worry!"

No one said anything. I'm not sure they knew what _to_ say, if to say anything at all. If Oishi had been there, he'd have known exactly how to respond.

_"You're_ not_ nervous, Eiji. You're just preoccupied."_

Yeah, he's said something just like that. And he'd be right. I was distracted, restless, worried. That was it...I was worried. My heart hadn't jumped into my throat when Tezuka told us that Oishi was in the hospital helping the woman. It hadn't happened until he told us Oishi had been hurt, too.

Sure, a sprain wasn't serious. It was just a tiny thing, quickly healed, not even bad enough to really impair Oishi at all. He'd just have to favor that wrist for a bit. Oishi would recover fast. He knew how to take care of himself.

Right. If that were true, he wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. Oishi was just careful, that's all. That's why bad things hardly seemed to happen to him. It was just...he always put others ahead of himself.

I was worried. I couldn't help it-I couldn't remember Oishi ever getting really hurt before. He'd slam an elbow on his desk moving to make way for someone, and once I apparently shoved him out of bed while we were sleeping, but it was a rare thing and never anything more serious that a brief pain or a couple of bruises. And it was always due to him making way for someone else, or trying to help. Now, even if it wasn't as bad as it could have been, he was hurt badly enough that he couldn't take care of it himself. I should have been there with him, to take care of him. I was faster, I had better balance, I could have gotten to that pregnant woman and fallen without getting hurt. He might not have hurt himself and he could have been at my side right then.

That's it.

That was the answer. When Tezuka told me I'd be taking on Hyoutei and the other schools with Momo instead of Oishi, I hadn't known why I'd gone so cold. Now, though...I couldn't stop worrying. Oishi wouldn't be here to play with me. He was hurt, and I was here instead of with him. He was alone. I was alone.

Oishi wouldn't be coming to play by my side. My other half, my better half, and without him there was no Golden Pair of Seigaku. It was Momoshiro, a great player but not Oishi...and me, half of the star doubles team, completely unable to function because playing with someone other than Oishi was wrong under normal circumstances and right at that moment I'd give up tennis to be there with him for even the stupidest injury.

The second I realized that I was going to throw the game, my insides flipped and I discovered I was scared after all.


	5. Chapter Five: Playing With Strangers

Author's note: Teehee, Kana-chan is the coolest 9th grader I know. She is like my new hero, and Nashiro-sensei, too, for letting his 14 year old daughter read Golden Porn (her term, not mine, but isn't it great?) Anyway, here we go with chapter 5! I think I've finally got some rhythm in terms of plot and stuff now, although once the next chapter ends I'm not sure where the next one will go...meh. I'll figure it out. So it's Oishi this time. Big surprise. Eventually I'll have an interlude with Fuji or Momo, maybe Kaido because I love him so. And I apologize for the short chapter, but I assure you chapter 6 more than makes up for it. Enjoy!

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Chapter Five: Playing with Strangers

"Room is spinning out of control  
I've never felt defenseless, I can't even let go of this  
You speak and I don't hear a word..."  
-Meredith Brooks, "What Would Happen?"

"Thank you for staying with me," the woman I'd known for only about an hour whispered. "Really, I'll be fine."

I shook my head and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "I'll stay until your husband gets here."

The pained yet relieved smile I received in return lightened my mood for a moment and I relaxed the tiniest bit. She'd be fine as long as someone was with her.

Of course, that means I couldn't leave. Not that it would have made any difference if I were at the tournament or not right then...not with the bandages wrapped around my swollen, tender wrist.

_Eiji, Tezuka...everyone, I'm so sorry. _It was stupid to feel so guilty over this, but I couldn't help it. I didn't wish I'd ignored the woman, not at all...she had needed help and if I hadn't given it to her, who knows what might have happened to her and her child. But if I'd been a little faster, if I'd just had a bit better balance...

The team would do fine without me. Momoshiro was a fine player. He'd do great in my place, and Eiji was amazing enough to make up for anyone's weaknesses. Inui's training routines might have been completely nuts sometimes, but they got results. The whole team was stronger. I should've known that. It was my job to know that. I was vice-captain. If Tezuka had faith in the team, I definitely should!

Still...

Eiji.

I couldn't shake the thought of my doubles partner. I knew he'd do fine, even without me there. Still, we were the Golden Pair. We were the guaranteed win in each match. If I was missing, was that win still a certain thing?

"Nya, Oishi, you worry too much."

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. _Do I though? I don't think so. I think I'm just worrying about the wrong things. _

Like how you'll be fine without me, and not just on the tennis courts.

The woman gasped and tightened her grip on my uninjured hand. I snapped myself back to reality and smiled reassuringly at her. "Are you doing all right?"

"Yes." Her voice was a pained hiss, her face pinched. "Will he be here soon?"

"The doctors said he was on his way." I kept my voice low and calm, trying to soothe her. "It can't be much longer. Don't worry. Just keep breathing and relax."

There was a flash of a memory--my mother being pushed in a wheelchair towards maternity while I stood in the waiting room with my uncle and my father followed at my mother's side. I could barely hear his voice in my memory, saying almost the exact same words to her. Something must've gone really right while they were in there. I'd never seen either of my parents glow like they did when I went in to meet my little sister for the first time. It had been forever and a day ago, and the memory was hazy, but I remembered that much because they'd looked so completely happy.

Maybe it wasn't the baby that did it. My parents always seemed completely happy. It was just that day it was a heightened state, probably because of my sister. They were probably just as glowing when I was born. Regardless...there was always something there between them, every time I saw them.

I wished I could share that kind of sheer joy with Eiji. I felt it enough myself whenever I was around him, and it was so heady...I'd give anything to have him feel that way around me even for a second, just so he could experience that high.

A harried pounding in the hallway had both the woman and I looking towards the door. A moment later, a young man a year or so older than the woman swerved in and clung to the doorframe, panting. "Is everything all right? Is Minami all right?"

I nodded and released her hand, standing so that the young man could take my place. He rushed over, and flashed me a grateful look. "Thank you."

The young woman reached over towards me and gave my wrist a squeeze. The hand I'd been holding was already tightly grasping her husbands. "Thank you again for everything."

"It really wasn't a problem." I smiled. The way the room had seemed to get brighter when the young man entered made it impossible not to. "I hope everything goes well."

"Syuichiro Oishi?" The doctor just past the door in the hallway touched my arm as I backed out of the room. "I'd like the staff to take another look at that arm, a closer one this time. We want to make sure that sprain isn't more serious than it looks. Do you have a while?"

My mind flashed back to the tournament. The games would have started by now. Eiji and Momo would be playing very soon, if they weren't already. I almost told him no, that I had somewhere to be, that my teammates were counting on me even if I wasn't playing.

I almost told him, but a tiny, painful voice in the back of my mind whispered that Eiji would be fine. He didn't need me there.

"Sure." I smiled, and wondered if the sting of that realization was visible in my eyes. "I've got a little bit still."

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"Well, there's good news." The doctor sat back and rested his hands on his knees. "It's not a serious sprain. It probably won't take more than a couple of weeks for it to heal, if you take care and don't push the recovery too much."

I nodded, and looked down at my heavily bandaged arm. "What should I do to avoid that?"

"Well, that's the bad news." The doctor met my gaze sheepishly. "You're on a tennis team, you said?"

"Yes." My stomach sank. "I'm the vice-captain."

"Not for a bit you aren't. I don't want you playing any tennis with that sprain. You should only be out of the game for two weeks or so, but if you try and do anything before then, that's a sure way to make this injury even worse."

I nodded, unsurprised but still frustrated. I had expected something like this...it was obvious. Injured wrist, no tennis. Still, I had hoped maybe he had made a mistake and it was just a jammed carpal or a muscle pull so that I could still play.

With Eiji.

Not that it would have made a difference today if that were the case. Even if all that had happened with a slight bone bruise or some such thing, it hurt so much to move that wrist that there was no question I couldn't play in the tournament today, even if I showed up in time or the rules had leeway for such occurrences and lateness.

I'm so, so sorry everyone. Eiji, I hope you and Momoshiro are doing well.

But that was a stupid thought. Of course they were doing well. I could imagine it all too clearly; Eiji at the front of the court, eyes sharp and focused, smiling in that slightly intimidating way he had whenever he was serious about winning, ready to move in any direction at a moment's notice, and Momo behind him, crouched slightly, ready to back him up. The game would start, and while there would be some hesitation and awkwardness due to the switch in partners, Eiji would get right back into the rhythm, playing just as if I were there with him. And Momo would do what he did best, slamming the ball back and forth with all his strength whenever things went out of Eiji's range.

It wouldn't be as clean of a win as if I were there, maybe, but it would still happen. Eiji could do it, and he'd be able to do it without me there at all.

"Here." The doctor handed me a small, white paper bag. "There are some pain killers here in case it starts hurting more, some salve to help keep the muscles relaxed, and a couple of ace bandages for when you need to change that one. Once the nurse comes in and has you fill out a few forms, you can head to check out and sign yourself out. After that, you're free to leave. Is that all right?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts, willing away the misery I felt at what should have been a happy vision. If Seigaku still won, that was what counted, wasn't it? Not who played with who. "Oh. Yes, that's fine. Thank you, sir."

"You're very welcome. Thank _you_ for bringing that young woman here." He smiled at me almost like my father did sometimes when he was proud of me for something. I didn't understand it anymore from him than I did from the doctor. "Not many young men would have helped her like that. You must be a very remarkable boy."

"Ah.." I smiled back uncertainly. "That's not really the case, but thank you."

The doctor nodded back at me again, then stood, took his chart from the table beside him, and walked out the door. I turned to the window and let my thoughts wander again.

Why did it bother me so much to think of Eiji playing with someone other than me? There was a time when I would have been thrilled to have that be the case, to have never met him. Of course, that had been a very brief time, and I hadn't known him much at all, but still! Now I couldn't imagine playing with anyone but him, or never having known him, or life without him. But just because I thought that didn't mean he did too, did it?

No, I knew exactly what the problem was. I just didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit even to myself that what bothered me wasn't the fact I wasn't playing, it was knowing that Eiji would never need me as much as I needed him...and not just in tennis.

Had he ever?

More importantly, why did it matter to me if he didn't?

I started suddenly, hardly even noticing the sharp pain when my injured wrist knocked against the arm of my chair. _Oh, shoot..._

The full gravity of the situation had just come home to me. I wasn't just interested in my doubles partner. I wasn't even infatuated with him.

I was absolutely, completely, 100 in love with Eiji Kikumaru.

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I checked the standings of the different schools as I entered the tournament. Most of the established star teams were doing just as well as predicted, or badly, depending on how you looked at it. The Seigaku team was currently playing against a Hyoutei school or some such thing...I didn't really notice. I'd raced back from the hospital as quickly as I could, partly so that I could be there sooner and partly trying to outrun my own thoughts. Once I was there, I had slowed down, unsure how I would react when I ran into Eiji and heard about the game I had missed...but checking over the standings revealed one important thing that distracted me from everything else, including who we were playing.

The game was still going. The number two doubles had gone already, but Eiji's game was still in progress. And that was not usual in the least.

My heart pounded with exertion and worry as I hurried to where we were supposed to be playing. Eiji and Momoshiro should have won by now. Even without me there, it shouldn't be taking so long for the game to finish. Something was wrong.

I almost ran right into the fence around the court as I swung around a corner. It was off to the side, so my vision was restricted, but I could vaguely see a little bit of the game. I winced at the sheer volume and exuberance of the Hyoutei supporters. Our little cheering squad was nothing compared to them. I could barely even hear Tomoko shrieking at the top of her shrill and very very large lungs, and that was saying something.

I leaned to the side a bit, trying to see more, and my stomach sank.

Momoshiro was doing very well. Extremely well, considering the last-minute circumstances. I could just imagine Inui scribbling down all the data he was almost certainly gathering watching him this match. But Eiji...no matter how well Momo was playing, he couldn't make up for Eiji. My friend was clearly giving his all...but something was wrong, very wrong.

For one thing, the expression in Eiji's eyes was all wrong. He should have been smiling, or least those deep blue eyes should have been so determined that it was almost as if a different person were inside the bouncy redhead. But no...they were almost blank, lost, panicked, and he looked almost on the verge of tears. I had never seen Eiji get that upset before, even when we had fought. It was frightening.

Then my attention was pulled to the Hyoutei player at the front of the net as he executed a mid-air flip that even left me gaping, and I had years of experience watching Eiji pull off almost identical stunts to desensitize me to such sensational acrobatics. He was good, whoever he was...really good. I couldn't tell how good, but at the moment he was leaving Eiji in the dust...

Quite literally, as a moment later the tennis ball went flying back over the net. My partner lunged, sending up small clouds of dirt and dust around him as he strained desperately, but to no avail. He was way off his game, not moving nearly as quickly or as agilely as usually. What was going on?

I watched for a little longer, and as the game went on it became clearer and clearer that Eiji was completely out of it. He wasn't playing at anything like normal capacity. I didn't know what was going on, but watching him try so hard and fail time and time again was agony. And the expression in his eyes when they called the game in favor of Hyoutei cut at my heart like a scalpel.

I had to do something. I didn't know what, but I had to come up with something to snap him out of it. I didn't even care what the outcome of the match was...for all I knew, things were too far gone for it to be even remotely salvageable for Seigaku. But I couldn't stand seeing the look on Eiji's face and the frustration and panic in his eyes.

That wasn't how it was supposed to work. I never ever wanted to see Eiji like that, never.

I wasn't there for him. He needs me there, and I'm not. Oh, Eiji, I'm so sorry...

Then what are you waiting for? came the contrasting thought. _Be there for him!_

came the contrasting thought. 

I stepped away from the fence, looked around to re-determine where the entrance of the court was, and jogged towards the stands where I could still hear Tomoko single-handedly screaming her support for Seigaku over the Hyoutei cheering section. It didn't take long to find her and the others...there might not have been many of them, but Tomoko's exuberant and defiant bouncing was more than a little noticeable even from a distance. I pushed my way down the stairs and through the bleachers to where the five first years sat. "Tomoko!"

Five sets of eyes turned to me, and Horio let out a shout. "Ah! Oishi!"

I nodded quickly, and interrupted before they could cause a distraction and throw off the game even more. "I have to head back to the rest of the team soon, but would you mind giving me some of those bandanas and things you've made?"

"Huh?" Tomoko stared at me for a moment, confused, then reached into her backpack. "Oh...sure. Here." She held out a strip of white cloth to me. "Why do you-ah!"

I snatched it away almost too quickly and smiled. "Thanks, all of you. I'll be back; I just need to get out of all these people." I winked, thinking quickly. I wanted to be where I knew Eiji could see me, but I definitely did not want to tell anyone that. Horio for sure would ask questions, and I didn't want to answer any just yet, not until I could figure out what to do about the fact that I was in love with my doubles partner. "We need some supporters in other areas, too. I'll be up there," I finished, pointing.

"Great idea!" Horio cried excitedly. "Then these Hyoutei jerks will think there are more of us and won't-"

Three sets of hands clamped over his mouth to a chorus of exasperated, "Horio!"'S, and I smiled again in embarrassment before making my way to the top of the stands again.

From here, I could see the score. It wasn't good at all, but by no means hopeless. Seigaku could still take the match. Eiji just had to pull his act together.

I tied the bandana around my forehead and let out a cry. "Fight, Seigaku! Come on!"

Keep going, Eiji. I'll be here. You can do this. I held up a fist proudly and hoped he would notice me. _I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens. I promise I won't leave you again._

I held up a fist proudly and hoped he would notice me. 

Eiji didn't look at me at all. I cheered again, trying to make myself heard over the Hyoutei contingent. Sometimes things like lack of support can really affect the outcome of a game. I didn't think that was what was bothering Eiji--not that I had any idea what was bothering him--but it couldn't hurt to add to the cheers in favor of Seigaku.

Eiji stared at his feet while waiting for the next serve, and I thought for a moment he was giving up. Then he looked up, and even from a distance I could see the spark in his blue eyes that I knew so well. Something was going through his head, and as a determined smile crept over his lips, a great weight lifted off my shoulders. That was it, that was how he was supposed to look and feel. Not scared, upset, or any of the emotions I'd seen on his face when I had first arrived, but confident, wry, happy. When he returned the next volley at top form and full strength, it was the most amazing thing I had seen in a very long time.

When he glanced up and met my eyes after the point was scored, I grinned back with all of the support I felt. I would always be there for him, no matter what. It wasn't an idle promise, even if I hadn't spoken it aloud. That was how it would always be.

When he smiled back at me, I didn't think I had ever felt happier in my life. He didn't need to know how I felt. As long as I could still see that smile, the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, I would be happy.

I hurried back to the bleachers to sit for a bit and watch the end of the game. And to be there for the boy I loved.


	6. Chapter Six: Confessions of a Foolish He...

_Author's note: All right! We're finally getting somewhere! God only knows where I'm going after this, my teensy semblance of plot wasn't holding up much as it was and now...ahem. You'll have to read and see. This time it's Eiji, and next chapter'll be the first interlude, probably from Fuji just because he's so close to Eiji and because I'm too scared of Tezuka to write him yet .;; And on a totally different note, I _highly_ recommend that everyone goes and gets this band's CD. It's fabulous, kind of like a harder-edged Coldplay with just drums and piano, and it's so wonderful. And it's $10 at Best Buy, so come on people, it's totally worth it! Now...read and enjoy!_

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Chapter Six: Confessions of a Foolish Heart

_And if you have a minute why don't we go  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything  
So why don't we go somewhere only we know?  
-_Keane, "Somewhere Only We Know"

Walking off the tennis court was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I thought for sure any moment I'd start shaking and simply stop, unable to move any more. Losing...it had come too close to actually happening. That just didn't happen. The Golden Pair was the most reliable part of the entire Seigaku team. No one ever worried about us losing, and even if Fuji, Tezuka, and Echizen were the current stars of the team, there was a reason Oishi and I always knew we'd be first doubles.

Then again, I hadn't been playing with Oishi. And the fact that I could lose myself so much without him beside me scared me more than I wanted to admit.

The Seigaku supporters were going wild. The screams and cheers were deafening. Fans always seemed to love you even more if you came close to losing and still beat the odds. Maybe that's why so many people ended up rooting for our ochibi. He was amazing, but he was still young and his matches tended to be really close. Maybe if Oishi and I really wanted a Golden Pair fan club, we should throw a few more games so that the sets were less of a sure thing. Except I liked winning. And I didn't care if we had a fan club or cheerleaders or anything as long as I was playing beside him.

I dropped onto the bench and somehow managed to grin and flashed a few victory signs at the others. Momoshiro was lapping up the attention, and they'd expect me to do the same. I was just glad my knees hadn't given out until I was already seated.

"Kikumaru! Great match!" Takashi slapped me on the back and beamed. I winced a little at the strength of the gesture and answered quickly, hoping to diffuse any chaotic screaming that might ensue. I adored Taka most of the time, but I definitely preferred him sans tennis racquet.

"Thanks, Taka. That flippy guy should've known he couldn't psych me out, nya!"

"Eiji."

My heart jumped into my throat and I almost wrenched my neck turning to smile at Oishi. "You saw, right? We were great!"

Oishi's smile was like a blanket of comfort and strength, steadying me. The tingling in my fingers and legs faded away, and the edge of hysteria in my post-game banter disappeared. "Yeah, you were great."

I winked and flipped out another victory sign before looking down at his hand hanging at his side. My shoulder tingled where his other one rested on me, but that wasn't what concerned me. "Is your wrist all right?"

"Hmm?" Oishi lifted his arm and smiled faintly. "It's fine. I won't be able to play for a bit but it's nothing serious. Just a sprain. Don't worry about it, I'll be back on the court in no time."

"I'll worry all I want, thanks. Next time don't go breaking bones or whatever! Do you know how I felt when Tezuka told me I'd have to play with Momo?" I rolled my eyes up towards the sky and closed them dramatically. "I thought I was gonna have a heart attack! There's nothing scarier than being told you have to play with the team place holder."

"What was that?!?" Mom yelled from his seat.

"Guys, the next match?" Taka interrupted, racquet resting on his legs while his hands clenched nervously at his knees.

We fell silent and turned out focus to the tennis courts again. Half of my mind stayed on the game, but the rest of it wandered back to the game I'd just gotten out of.

I wasn't lying, Oishi. I thought I couldn't do it. I never thought I'd be so afraid to go out there without you.

Watching as the Gakuto-Oshitari pair started the game, I hadn't felt too worried...at least, not until the other redhead moved. He was fast, very fast...and I couldn't help but wonder, was he faster than me? Even if he wasn't, even if he was just as fast as me, just as talented, or less so, he was close enough. And he had his usual partner there. He had the support he could count on. Momoshiro was good, and he had gotten better at doubles since that hackneyed experiment he and Echizen had tried at the start of the season, but he wasn't Oishi.

He wasn't Oishi, and not having my partner and friend there left me feeling totally alone. I panicked. There was nothing else to it...I realized that I was alone out there, and I panicked.

Then that cocky Hyoutei creep got really creative, and started throwing my own moves at me, only better, and I couldn't counter them. He was too fast, too athletic, too flexible. I'd never played anyone who had a style anything like mine. Oishi would have known how to cover me while I figured out how to deal with these attacks...but Oishi wasn't there.

It was a vicious cycle. I was letting everyone down. I was letting Oishi down, and he wasn't even there to know it! We'd never make it, I was going to lose, we were never going to be number one in Japan, not the Golden Pair...

That thought was what finally snapped me back a bit. I wasn't part of the Golden Pair for this match, but Oishi and I still were the number one doubles team at Seigaku. Everyone was counting on us, but Oishi was counting on _me_ more than anything because he wasn't there to ensure our victory, and if I kept this up we would never be as good as we once had been. If I was going to lose, I wasn't going to do it without Oishi at my side to support me when I fell, and for me to do the same to him.

And I wasn't going to lose.

Then suddenly, it was like Oishi was there, whispering in my ear. _Keep going, Eiji. I'll be here. You can do this._ He'd always supported me more than the other members of the tennis team, and not just out of the regulars. I had to win, for Oishi.

When I glanced back not a moment later and saw him, everything fled away and there was nothing left but determination. He wasn't on the court with me, but he was there. And I wasn't about to let him down.

But still...until Oishi had come back, I hadn't been able to play. And that scared me more than I wanted to admit.

"Eiji?' The voice was low in my ear, and I fought back the urge to shiver. Oishi sounded concerned. "What happened at the beginning of the match? Something must've gone wrong for you to be so off your stride when I got here."

"Nothing happened."

"That Gakuto from Hyoutei had you-"

I wrinkled my nose in annoyance. "He didn't have me worried. I was off because you weren't here."

There was a moment of silence before Oishi spoke again. "But...Eiji, I've seen you play by yourself a ton of times. You could do singles if you wanted to. You're really good. Why would having a different partner throw you off so much?"

"It wasn't Momo, it was because you weren't there and you were _in the hospital_. I was worried." I kept staring at the game. "So that messed me up at the start and the fact that I messed up just threw me off even more. That's all. I just hope Inui doesn't have some freaky new training program for me after this!"

"Eiji-"

I had to think carefully before speaking again. For some reason I didn't want to hear what he was about to say. Even that wasn't as weird as having to weigh my words. I had to do that more and more around him, it seemed, and it bothered me. It was like something was out of whack with us, and I never wanted anything to be weird between us, not ever. "Look. After the tournament today, we can talk. I don't want to...I don't want to talk about this with everyone else here, all right?"

I turned to look at him finally, hearing a hint of pleading creep into my voice. "Is that okay with you?"

Oishi looked at me, concern etched all across his face, but he nodded slowly. "If that's what you want, sure. Just as long as you promise we'll talk."

"We will. I promise."

We turned back to the game without ever raising our voices above those low whispers or looking at each other. My stomach jumped and flipped so much it made me never want to practice my own acrobatics ever again, but I made myself focus on the game. It would be over soon enough.

I hope it's just the game that's over. I hope I'm not making a mistake talking to him, maybe telling him the truth. I hope it's just the game and the tournament that are over soon, and not us.

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"See you guys!" Momoshiro waved over his shoulder as he swung astride his bike. Next to him, Echizen waved in that bored way of his before walking off just behind Momo's bike. I waved back enthusiastically. "Bye-bye! See you both tomorrow!" I started to drop my hand, then cupped both of them around my mouth as an after thought. "Ochibiiii! Be careful!"

I could just imagine Echizen's disgusted expression. The thought made me smile even wider.

Winning tournaments always made me feel like nothing could go wrong, even if this one was more a loss than victory. Still, we'd won, and even with everything that had happened with Tezuka, things seemed much more cheerful than they had during my games. I turned to wave at Takashi as he climbed into his father's truck. "Takaaa! Later!"

He waved back with a huge grin as the truck pulled away.

Next to me at the curb, Fuji paused as he climbed into his sister's car. The corners of his mouth twitched in secret amusement and he held up a hand in farewell. "Good luck."

My smile faltered and I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "Um, thanks?"

He just climbed into the car and waved briefly before closing the door. "See you at practice next week."

As the car pulled away from the curb, I could hear Oishi approaching. "Do you have to be home at any time?"

"Not really." The sun was starting to set and the light shone too brightly on my lashes, turning everything glaring red. I lifted a hand to shade my eyes. "Where's Kaido? Is he still here?"

"He left already. He's always the first, you know that. Eiji, you're not stalling are you?"

"Nya, Oishi, would I do that?"

I turned to peer at my partner. His expression tried to be serious, but the smile in his voice and eyes ruined it. "Of course you would."

"Ah, Oishi, you're always so mean to me."

"I'm mean?" He staggered back in mock-hurt. "Who's the one with-holding vital information to our future as a doubles pair from me?"

"Beats me. Ask our ochibi-chan, he knows everything. Or maybe it's Inui, he never tells any of us everything he knows."

The echoes of Oishi's laughter in the courtyard lit up everything inside of me. He rubbed a hand over the top of his head and shook his head at me. "I don't ever want to know everything Inui does. I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life. Seriously, Eiji, what did you want to talk with me about?"

I smiled weakly, and shrugged innocently. "You were the one with all the questions. I thought I was just answering them."

Oishi eyed me suspiciously, and faint frown lines appeared between his eyebrows. He waited a moment before letting out a small sigh. "All right, if you're going to be like that, I'll play along. I do have one question."

He flicked something off the sleeve of his jacket, then met my eyes again. "I know you're a good player. Those Hyoutei guys wouldn't have scared you off unless something was really strange. And I know you're good enough to play next to anyone and still be amazing. So why did you have so much trouble at the start of the game?"

I didn't want to look away. His eyes were so deep, so welcoming, even filled with all the confusion they carried at that moment. But I couldn't meet his gaze when I answered. I made myself look away, running my fingers through my bangs and fussing with the ends of my hair while I spoke. "I told you why. It was mostly because, you know, I was just really worried about you."

"Why?" Oishi leaned forward the slightest bit, just enough that if I looked up we'd be eye-to-eye. "It was just a sprain. Why were you so worried about me?"

I glanced up and pulled my eyes away quickly again. If I looked at him, I'd tell him the truth. As it was, I didn't think I could lie to him even now. "You're my closest friend, and my partner. Why shouldn't I be worried about you?"

"Not so worried you'd almost throw a tennis match. You were complete out of it, Eiji, until you saw me." Oishi's voice dropped lower, and it was tinged with worry. "What was wrong? Why can't you tell me?"

I didn't look up. I refused to look up. I kept my eyes fixed firmly on Oishi's feet. "I did."

There was silence. I wanted to look up, to se if he was angry or upset or just confused. I couldn't imagine what was going through his mind right then. The lack of connection was beyond disconcerting. It made my head swim and my insides twist unhappily. If I messed this up, if I said something I shouldn't and everything between Oishi and I changed...I didn't think I could deal with that sickness on a constant, always there basis.

"Eiji," Oishi said quietly, "please. Just tell me what's wrong."

"I did!" My eyes burned, and I mentally slapped myself. Dammit, this was not the time to cry. No matter what people thought of me, I wasn't a crier. I wasn't going to change that now, not with Oishi right there. I never cried around him. I'd never had any reason to. Besides, if I started crying he'd come over and try to comfort me and...

I struggled to regain my self-control. I could still get through this. All I had to do was convince Oishi that my worrying was all that had thrown the game so badly. It was true. I just had to convince him. He didn't even have to know what I felt.

I kicked at the sidewalk angrily. Why didn't he see that I meant what I said? "I know I almost blew it, all right? It bothers me! It bothers me that I'd let my worrying get in the way of a game, and it bothers me that I can't play without you there even if you aren't on the field! I told you what the problem was, Oishi, I swear it's the truth, so can't you just believe me already?"

"It doesn't match up, Eiji! I don't understand how-"

"It's because I don't know what to do anymore without you here with me!" I blurted out before I could think, and froze.

_Oh shit. Oh, _shit...

I looked up, finally, biting my lip to keep any other stupid comments from flying out, and nervously searched Oishi's face for anything that might let me know if he'd understood. There was a flicker of something, there for just a second, but it was covered up in all the faint confusion etched over his face. "Eiji?" He reached back to rub his hand over the back of his neck...was that a nervous gesture, or just an unconscious movement? I couldn't tell.

I pulled at the skin over my lower lip with my teeth, and made myself meet his eyes. Oishi was smart. He'd know what I'd meant even if I didn't tell him. Might as well get it over with. "I...Oishi, about you..."

I stopped, swallowed, felt a click in my throat. My chest was too tight. It was hard to breathe. I took a few deep breaths through my nose, trying to steady myself, and forced the rest of the words out. "I don't want to ever be without you, ever. I...need to be beside you. I think...I _know_...I..."

My legs shook, and I clenched my fists tightly at my side, feeling my nails bite into my palm so painfully that they might've drawn blood. "I...love you...Syuichiro."

The minute the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to sink into the ground. _Stupid, stupid, Kikumaru...you could've just said you cared for him or you liked him, now he'll feel guilty or get scared off. And why'd you have to use his name? Stupid stupid stupid!_

Oishi's eyes had widened when I spoke, and he didn't move. There was a faint twilight taste in the air as the sun set. Was he just going to stand there until it was so dark I couldn't see him any more?

Oishi and I never just talked to fill the silence, because it was never silent even without our words. This wasn't the same. This was complete and utter silence, and even with Oishi right before me I felt totally alone.

"I'm sorry." The words were low. I could barely hear them myself even though they came from me. "You don't need to hear this. I'll see you at practice next week."

It took everything I had to make my feet move, to turn to leave. This wasn't how things were supposed to go with us. There wasn't supposed to be any weirdness between us, no awkward moments, nothing left unresolved. But I couldn't stay here while everything fell apart around me, around us.

"Ah...wait, Eiji!"

My heart skipped three beats, but I didn't turn. If I looked back now, I'd never be able to make myself leave him again. After a moment of silence, Oishi laid a hand on my shoulder. "Eiji, can you please look at me?"

I lifted my head and stared straight ahead without answering for a moment. "No."

His voice was so wounded. Was it because of what I'd said, or because he knew everything was over between us? "Why not?"

"Because."

"Eiji." Oishi tilted my chin up so that I had to look at him for a moment before I let my eyes slide away. "Eiji, why won't you look at me?"

"I don't want to."

He laughed...not much, but still a little. Why was he laughing? _Don't be so cruel, Oishi!_ "I don't believe you. You just said...you just said that you loved me, didn't you?"

"So?" I gritted my teeth against the pain. "Aren't you disgusted with me? Or mad? I don't want to see any of that. Let me go!"

"I've never heard you call me by my name before, do you realize that?"

"Quit teasing me!" I knocked his hand away and stepped back. "I'm going home now."

"Eiji, you don't understand." Oishi took my hand again, and his voice was shaking. "Don't go. I don't want you to go."

I looked back at him in surprise. "Wha-"

Oishi suddenly glanced away, and his words came so fast that I almost didn't catch them. "I'm...inlovewithyoutoo."

I thought my jaw was going to fall off. _"Nyani?!?!"_

"I..." Oishi peered back at me sideways, shyly, uncertainly. "I love you, too, Eiji."

There were no more cars driving by. There hadn't been many to begin with, but as the sun set, they disappeared completely. The only sound was the distant whisper of the faint breeze, and the ever-present bird song as the day ended. I didn't speak.. I wasn't sure I could. Of everything I had expected...this was certainly the last. I had hoped that he would say it was fine, that we could still be friends, and that he didn't mind, but this...

Oishi turned back to face me straight on again, concerned. "Eiji? What's wrong?"

It couldn't be right. I told myself not to feel too overjoyed. I had misheard, or Oishi wasn't telling me the whole truth. It didn't make any sense. "Then...the way you've been acting, avoiding me more and..."

A faint color rose in Oishi's cheeks. "Oh. That. I didn't want you to know."

"You...why?" I hoped I didn't sound like I was whining. I just was so confused. This was beyond anything I had ever wished for. I didn't know how to take it yet.

"Well, I guess I didn't...no." Oishi shook his head. "I know why. I didn't want to say anything to ruin our friendship. I figured I could be happy as long as we stayed as close as we already are now, and if telling you the truth meant we couldn't be as good friends any more, I didn't want to risk it." He started to put a hand on my shoulder, hesitated, and let it fall to his side when I didn't speak. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have waited so long to tell you."

"No..." I shook my head, finding my voice. "That's not it. I'm not angry. I'm thinking."

Now his voice was curious, and a bit surprised. "What about?"

It was real. No matter how I looked at it, it was real. I had finally told Oishi how I felt...and he had said he loved me back. And it was true. It was all true, it was all real. I couldn't keep from beaming at him. I wanted the whole world to see us right then. I didn't think I could say or do anything to show how incredibly happy I was right then. If I smiled any wider, my face would split. It was just...too perfect. "I was just thinking how funny it is that you said that. That's exactly why I didn't tell you!"

Oishi laughed, and I realized I could still be even happier than I already was. It was so good to hear him laugh, this boy that I loved and who loved me back. "That _is_ funny! How did we end up doing that?"

"It's because we're the Golden Pair, Oishi. We're made for each other!" I almost blushed when I realized what I had said, but didn't turn away. The time for that was over. I hadn't stopped myself from saying things to Oishi before, and I didn't think he had with me either. Easy conversation...why hide things now, if we hadn't before we knew the truth?

"I guess we are," he mused thoughtfully, still smiling at me. "That's a good thing, I guess, isn't it?"

On impulse, I threw my arms around him, clinging to his body as if he would disappear if I relaxed my grip. Oishi stumbled back a bit in surprise, then gently wrapped his arms around me as well. He just held me lightly like that, nothing more.

It was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me.

"Oishi, I love you. So much," I all but whispered, staring up at him. "I really do."

"I know you do." Oishi released me suddenly, and stepped away...not fleeing, but simply giving us room apart. "I...really do, too." The words were almost wondering, awed.

I had the sudden impulse to lean forward and kiss him, but he only stepped aside. "You should go home."

I tilted my head at him and pouted. "Hey, no fair. In the movies this is where you would kiss me."

"Yeah, but this isn't a movie, Eiji." Oishi smiled apologetically at me. "Besides, I don't want people to think badly of you. You've complained to me often enough about those couples at school that can't keep their hands off each other."

I made a face, but didn't push it. Oishi was right. And besides...we had all the time in the world. And I really didn't mind. No one had to know about us. We didn't need to keep this from the world, but it didn't need to see everything, either. Oishi could keep me to himself. I was more than fine with that.

"Then...see you next week before school?"

Oishi reached out and tentatively took my hand, giving it a light squeeze. "Of course."

I didn't pull away for a moment. He was still shy...even the light touch was sweet, and I didn't want it to end just yet. "Like always."

"And you'll probably end up coming late like always, too."

"Ah, don't be mean, Oishi." I wrinkled my nose at him, and pulled my hand away as he relaxed his grip. I waved, and turned to go. "Bye, Oishi!"

"Walk home safely!" he called back, and I waved an acknowledgement. I took three running steps, stopped, then turned and dashed back again. Before Oishi could react, I wrapped my arms around him again and pressed my lips against his for just a brief moment, in one brief caress.

When I pulled back, I couldn't help but laugh at the startled expression on his face. "There's no one around to see anyway, so it's okay for me to do that!" I ran back off in the direction of my house. "See you next week, Oishi!"

He didn't wave back. He just stood there, like he was too shocked to move. I just laughed again and kept running...and I felt like I could fly.


	7. Interlude: Fuji

Author's Note: Here it is, the not-really-much-anticipated-but-still-long-awaited Fuji interlude! This will be quite short, since it's, well, an interlude_, not a real chapter, but it's still here, and an excuse to try and write Fuji some more. I'm not too sure I wrote him well at all, but at least I tried...sigh We will return to you to your regularly scheduled Golden Pair POV next chapter, though what I'm going to do with them now I have no idea....meh. But next time, it's Oishi's chapter. This time, it's Fuji; enjoy!_

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Interlude: Fuji

The day was perfectly normal...just another quiet weekend afternoon at our house. My sister was studying in her room, my brother was downstairs somewhere, and both of our parents were wandering the house, getting all the little things that needed to be done on the weekend out of the way. I was going over some homework assignments for the next day...they'd been done since their assigning, but there was certainly no harm in going over them again just in case.

In the kitchen, the phone rang. I let it ring. Yuuta was closer to the kitchen than I was, he would get it. I blocked out the ringing and concentrated on the short paper I was rereading. _The effects of the rapid Westernization of Meiji-era Japan came as a shock to the rest of the world as well as the country itself..._

"Hey, brother!" Yuuta's voice carried up the stairs. "Phone for you!"

_Hmm?_ I set down the papers and headed downstairs sedately, wondering who it might be. I wasn't expecting any calls; most of my friends knew that the day after a tennis tournament was homework time, if they weren't on the team themselves, and I couldn't think of anyone else who might be calling. Perhaps Mrs. Ryuzaki was calling with news about Tezuka...unlikely, but it was possible I supposed.

I took the phone from my brother, who gave me a vaguely annoyed look. "I'm waiting for a call, so don't stay on too long."

"Now why would I do that?" I asked with a smile before turning away from him and focusing on the phone. "Hello, this is Syusuke Fuji-"

"Fuji!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Ah, Eiji. What a nice surprise. How are you?"

"Wonderful!" The voice on the other end of the phone was jubilant, full of more energy than the bouncy redhead had even on a normal basis. "Everything is wonderful, Fuji! Yesterday was the greatest day of my life!"

I kept smiling even though I knew he couldn't see it, and a cold, angry flame burned in my stomach. "Was it? Well, maybe. You don't have to worry about Tezuka giving you a hard time during practice for a while, now, do you?"

"Ah..." My friend's voice faltered. "No, that's not why, Fuji! I mean...what happened to Tezuka was awful. That wasn't good at all. You know I didn't mean that."

"No, of course not." Still, the fact that he could be happy about something with all that had happened, when Tezuka was in so much pain...it made me angry. But that wasn't fair to Eiji, not in the least. I made myself push it away. "What makes everything so wonderful, then?"

"Oh...you know." Eiji's voice was nonchalant, but there was excitement and joy bubbling clearly underneath it all. "Just life in general. Good things happened. I'm glad. Everything seems better when you're happy, don't you think?"

"Of course I do. It's true. What happened?" Now I was curious. Normally, when my friend was excited about something, he couldn't wait to blurt it out. I had a feeling that was why he had called me, out of that same reflex...but for some reason, he wasn't telling.

"Oh..." I could hear him trying to keep it all vague, secretive, trying to make it seem like it wasn't important. Naive little Eiji Kikumaru. Someday he would realize that I could read him and manipulate him as easily as anyone else if I wanted to. I just didn't want to. "I just finally told the person I like how I felt, and I didn't get rejected."

Now my eyebrows winged up into my bangs in honest surprise. "Really! That _is_ a good reason to be happy. Is that it?"

"Well..." I could hear Eiji's smile in each syllable. "This person said they liked me back, too. Just made it all the better, nya!"

I laughed a little, though probably not at what my friend thought I was. I wasn't laughing at him, not exactly. I was laughing because I could just imagine the look on his face when he heard that answer. That, and I could imagine the expression the "person he liked" wore when Eiji told him in the first place. "I would imagine so! Congratulations, Eiji."

"Thank you!" Eiji laughed. "I'm just so relieved to finally get it off of my chest, you know? It feels great!"

_And I'm sure we'll all be seeing the effects of how great it feels when we get back to school, hmmm?_ I leaned against the counter and switched the phone to my other ear. "No wonder you're so happy. So who is it, anyway?"

"Huh?"

I almost laughed again. "The person you like. Who is it?"

"Oh. No one important. Nya, Fuji, since you mentioned it, how is Tezuka doing anyway?"

I could have pushed it, but I let it go. "He's fine. Well, not fine per say, but he's doing as well as can be expected. Mrs. Ryuzaki said she would let us know if anything else happens, remember?"

"Mmmm. Yeah. I just thought, you know..." Eiji sounded a bit uncertain, as if he were out of his depth. Maybe he was. He didn't mesh well with unhappy situations. It just didn't match him personality. "You and Tezuka are so close and all. I thought maybe you might have heard something."

"Eiji? Don't you think Oishi would hear something before I did? He is the vice-captain, after all." And the mere knowledge that he very well _might_ end up hearing something before me hurt in ways I would never admit.

"Oh, yeah, huh. I guess he would. But you're Tezuka's best friend after Oi-"

"Hey," I interrupted, not wanting to think about the situation any more, "you didn't tell me who this person was."

"Nyaaaaa, Fuji!" I could all but see Eiji's annoyed pout. "Don't push me! That's just mean! Maybe I don't want to tell you, did you think of that, hmmm?"

"Of course you want to tell me. Why else would you have called?"

"I...well.." The voice on the other phone went silent for a moment, and I could almost hear him steaming. "You're a jerk, Fuji."

"Oh, now who's the one being mean?"

_"Hey!"_ Yuuta sounded more than a little annoyed now. "Come on! I'm waiting for a call!"

"Right, right." I waved at my brother through the doorway and grinned calmly before going back to Eiji. "I'm sorry, I have to go. My brother needs to use the phone."

"Ah...right!" My friend sounded both relieved and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I forgot you like to take the day after a tournament off for school..."

"Don't worry about it. I needed a break from homework." I grinned maliciously at Yuuta again and brushed my hair out of my eyes. "You're doing yours too, right?"

"Um..."

I almost snorted, but that just wasn't something one did on the phone with a friend. "Do your homework. Call Oishi to help you if you need it."

"Right, right, fine." Eiji let out a heavy sigh. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Fuji."

"Have a good day."

The phone went dead, and Yuuta snatched the receiver out of my hand. I held out my hands peaceably and wandered back up the stairs, ignoring his railing at me. My brother could get so worked up over little things sometimes. He needed to learn how to relax, like me.

I dropped back onto my bed and went back to re-checking my paper. I only paused for a moment to wonder if Eiji would actually call Oishi to help him with his homework. Or...whatever.

I smiled to myself and rolled onto my back. _It's about time those two figured out how good they are for each other._


	8. Chapter Seven: Simple Gestures

Author's Note: Yay for the holidays. And getting out of the hell-hole that is my current college. God, I hope that I get accepted in those transfers...anyway. We're back to the real chapters now, and the people I can, like, halfway write without sucking. But first...Does the happy "We broke 40 reviews!" dance That's a big deal for me! I really appreciate everyone's praise, and the people leaving feedback too have been most helpful. I definitely am glad that you all are still reading and taking the time to let me know what you think! Now, if any of you want to give me ideas for an actual PLOT...god, how AM I writing this thing when I don't have one? Meh. Well, we're back to Oishi this chapter. Hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter Seven: Simple Gestures

_"And I'm high enough from all the waiting  
To ride a wave on your inhaling  
'Cause I love you, no? Can't help but love, you know..."  
_-Frou Frou, "Breathe In"

When I woke up Monday morning, I felt lighter than I had in weeks, maybe months, or even longer. It took me a bit to shake off the remnants of dreams and realize. Given what I'd been dreaming about, I should have been in a panic again...what if Eiji found out?

It didn't matter if Eiji found out. He already had. That was why I felt so free. I didn't have to hide this from him any longer. It didn't matter that I was having these dreams of him with so much more frequency. It was all right. I didn't have to pretend it wasn't there.

I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and sat up, stretching, invigorated. School was going to be easy today with the way I was feeling. Of course, tennis practice was going to be scary, with Tezuka injured and...well. Best not to worry about that right at that moment. Right then, I was too excited about seeing Eiji for the first time in two days. I could just imagine how he must be feeling. I'd get to school, he'd show up outside of the classroom, bounce inside, give me a morning hug like usual and...

Oh, no.

My heart began to pound nervously and with a hint of excitement, too. What _were_ things going to be like between us now? Were we...dating? A couple? _Boyfriends?_ And if we were, how was that going to change things? How were we supposed to act?

What if people found out?

It was awful. I wanted to let the entire world know how Eiji made me feel, and I knew he most definitely would feel the same. I wanted everyone to know...but how would people react? What would the team think? What would the rival schools say if they found out the acting captain was dating his doubles partner? Maybe nothing would happen, but then again, maybe something would. Maybe it would be bad. Maybe it would reflect on the team, or make them act differently around me and Eiji, and then how would we train and practice? What if Tezuka disapproved, and forbid us to get involved with other teammates? What if...what if...what if...

"Big brother?" There was a knock at the door, and after a moment my little sister peeked in. "Oh, good, you are awake. Mama didn't hear the alarm go off, so she asked me to wake you up in case you forgot."

"I didn't forget." I stood, and rubbed a hand over my face before smiling at her. "Thank you, though. Tell Mom I'll be downstairs in a bit, after I get dressed."

She smiled at me. "All right. She made fresh juice this morning. Hurry up or I'll drink it all!"

I waved a little bit, and she quickly closed the door again. Mechanically I turned towards my closet and picked out one of the uniforms hanging there. I told myself to stop worrying, but it wasn't doing much good. Thank goodness for school uniforms...if I'd had to pick out my own clothes in this state, I couldn't imagine how much I'd be fretting over what to wear to impress Eiji or...whatever. As it was, a new fear had risen in my mind, one that I couldn't push away as easily as I went through the motions of dressing, styling my hair, and getting my books and things together for the day.

What would my family think if I told them?

I doubted my sister would care. She was still too young to really think of anything as wrong if it made people happy, though that wouldn't be the case much longer. But suppose it got out and kids at her school started teasing her about her brother. What then? And my parents...what was I going to tell my parents? _Was_ I going to tell my parents?

These were the thoughts racing a worn path in my mind when I sat down to breakfast. My mother looked at me with mild concern. "Is something the matter, Syuichiro? You seem a little tired this morning."

"Oh...it's nothing." Just the fact that less than two days ago I had let my best friend and tennis partner kiss me and had said I loved him...no, nothing at all was wrong. "May I have some juice please?"

My mother nodded, and put a hand on my sister's arm. "Don't, sweetie, the pitcher is very full right now."

"Mo_-om_, I'm not a little kid. I won't spill it."

My mother simply raised her eyebrows wryly and passed me the pitcher. "Be careful, I filled it up a bit too high this morning."

I poured myself some juice carefully, and composed the words carefully in my head. "Mom, I have a question."

"Pass the eggs, please, Syuichiro. Go on."

As she took the platter from me, I tried to look as normal and nonchalant as possible. "You've always approved of the dates I've brought home, haven't you?"

"Of course I have. You have excellent taste--would either of you like more butter? No?" The dish clinked lightly as it landed back on the table. "I have never had any doubt that the girls you bring home will be anything but sweet, tasteful, and friendly. Why?"

It was harder to keep still than I'd thought. I had to practically sit on my hands to keep from bringing them up to my temples to hide my face. "I was just wondering if that would always be the case. I mean, suppose I brought home someone different."

There was another small clink as my mother set aside her chopsticks and looked at me curiously. "Syuichiro, what is this about?"

"Nothing. I just wondered."

There was silence for a moment, broken only by my little sister's chewing. After a bit, my mother sighed and went back to her breakfast. "Syuichiro, I'm sure I would love anyone you brought home. Who is she this time? Were you planning on bringing her by soon?"

I felt color rising in my cheeks. "There isn't a new girl, Mom. I really just wondered."

"Fine, fine, suit yourself. More juice?"

"I'm fine, thanks." I went back to my own meal, waiting just a moment before asking my next question. "What about my friends?"

"Oh, you know I adore your friends. Why are you even asking?" My mother quickly finished her egg roll and set her chopsticks down again. "Have I ever said anything against Tezuka and the others?"

"No, not at all. They're just all so different, that's why I wondered." The soup was cooling quickly. I sped up how fast I worked on it. "None of them are at all similar. I thought you might feel differently about some than others."

"Not at all. Your friends are all charming. And so polite, too."

My mouth was dry, but I didn't dare swallow lest she hear the click in my throat. "Even Eiji?"

"Of course, even him. He's so full of energy, and he's one of the friendliest boys I've ever met."

My sister suddenly piped up across the table. "He's nicer to me than the rest of your friends, too. Tezuka scares me sometimes."

I cracked a smile, just a bit relieved. "He can be intimidating. But he's an excellent tennis player-"

"I know, I know," she interrupted impatiently. "You tell us all the time. And Kikumaru is, too. I don't know why you're worried about what Mom will think of your new date, you talk about tennis more than any girls." Her tone was scornful, but she smiled and her eyes danced, showing she was just teasing me. "You should just go out with one of you teammates, then you could focus on tennis all the time."

My mother let out a gasp of mock-shock. "Hold your tongue, miss!"

I laughed a little, and felt the tension ease. I shouldn't have worried. My family was wonderful, even if we weren't as chaotic as Eiji's or as close as we could be. We supported each other. They'd be fine with whatever I did.

"Mom, can I walk to school with Aoi today?"

"I don't see why not." My mother stood and began collecting dishes from the table. "You might want to hurry, Syuichiro, or you won't have any time to relax before class."

I nodded, mouth full of toast, and focused in on my breakfast. I'd worry about _that _whole mess when I got there.

* * *

I needn't have worried. I made it to school in plenty of time, but Eiji didn't dash into my classroom until scant minutes before the final bell. He was at my side in a flash, one hand pressed to his chest, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, Oishi, my older sister wouldn't get out of the bathroom and I had to run all the way-" 

I smiled broadly, a flash of last night's dream floating into my mind. _"I'm sorry, Oishi, I ran all the way here, I missed you and..."_ "It's all right, Eiji! You still have a few minutes till class."

My doubles partner glanced around the classroom, then back at me with wide, distressed eyes. "But we were going to meet up before class and-"

"Oishi," the teacher called out in a mild voice, "class will be starting soon."

I nodded, and turned back to Eiji. "It's fine. We'll see each other later today anyway. I'll find you for lunch, all right?"

Eiji's entire face lit up, and he nodded. "That's right! I'll see you then, Oishi!"

He leaned in closer, and for a moment I was half-afraid he would kiss me right there, but all he did was frown at me and rub at the corner of his mouth. "You have something on your face...it looks like butter."

Startled, I put a hand to the side of my mouth, and wiped at the slick spot I felt there. I wasn't sure if I was more relieved that he hadn't kissed me or disappointed. "I do? I didn't even have any butter with my toast this morning."

"Well, it's gone now, nya!" For a brief second, I felt another hand grasp mine and squeeze--just for a brief second, and then my friend was running out the door again. "Later, Oishi!"

There was no point in my calling after him. I just shook my head, smiling to myself, and wiped the butter off on the tissue in my pocket. Typical Eiji...far more worried about losing a friend than his own less-than-stellar class reputation. Still...it was one of the things I loved best about him.

* * *

Lunch seemed to be an eternity in coming. Normally I had no problems waiting through class, but that day I couldn't focus. I wasn't sure why...well, maybe I had an idea. I wasn't sure at all how to act when Eiji and I were alone together for the first time now. I still didn't even know if we were a couple or anything like that. At the same time, if I was so nervous, why did I hope so fervently that lunch would come sooner? 

I've missed you, and it's only been a day.

Finally, after what seemed like the slowest final half hour of my life, literature class ended and we were free to go. I headed straight towards the tree where I usually met Eiji when we had lunch together. Sometimes we ate with our other friends too, and on a few occasions we only ate with other people and didn't see each other at all, but it was a very rare occurrence. And I knew he would be right at that same tree today. It was just one of those understandings we had without having to talk it over first.

To my surprise, I was there before my friend. Eiji never missed a second outside if he could help it. He liked to be on the move, and free to go and do whatever struck his fancy at any given time. When I realized he wasn't anywhere nearby, I felt a flush of embarrassment that I had been so eager to be with him again that I had torn out of class even faster than he. _Smooth, Syuichiro. Let's be as obvious as possible next time._

I hadn't been much faster, though, as Eiji came running up cheerfully only a moment later. "Oishi! Were you waiting long?"

I shook my head as he bounced to a halt next to me and began walking towards the side of the building. I fell into step beside him easily, without even thinking. "Not really. I just got here."

"Good. My teacher kept me after to go over my grades really fast, so I had to wait before I left." Eiji stopped halfway down the side of the school, between the wall and another tree. "Let's eat here today. Is that all right, Oishi?"

"It's fine." I settled myself in between the tree roots and started unpacking the lunch my mother had packed. Eiji dropped down beside me and did the same, making a face when he finished opening the bento box.

"Yuck. It was one of my brothers' turns to make lunches today. I hate sprouts on my sandwiches, they get stuck in my teeth."

I popped the top of my flavored water and looked at him quizzically. "Don't you have floss?"

"Nyaaaaa, Oishi, don't you start in on that, too." His voice somehow managed to be annoyed and patronizing at the same time. "Yes, I do, and no, I can't use it because I can't brush my teeth before I'm finished eating. It makes everything taste weird."

"You could just-"

Eiji covered his ears and shot me a look. I shut up and started to eat my onigiri instead.

We lapsed into silence then, but it wasn't uncomfortable anymore. I hadn't realized how awkward things had been between us the last few weeks. We hadn't been as awkward as many friends, but still, the silences had been filled with hidden words unsaid. Not now, though. Now it was only silence, filled with nothing more than each other's presence.

Not that that was a small thing at all.

It was quite brisk in the combined shade of the tree and the school. A faint breeze whispered by, and next to me, Eiji shivered a bit and moved closer to me. I froze for a moment, uncertain again, and carefully set down my meal. After a brief hesitation, I reached for the jacket I had set to the side and dropped it over my friend's shoulders. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't say anything. He simply reached up and pulled his arms through the sleeves and moved in just a hair closer to me before going back to his sandwich, sprouts and all. He still didn't speak, but his lips kept twitching into a small smile, and I immediately felt less silly about the whole thing. Such a small, almost cliché gesture...but it made him so happy.

"Oishi?" Eiji swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and ran his tongue over his teeth briefly. "Aren't you cold?"

"Me?" It was cool in the shade, but I liked it that way. "Not really, no. Are you?"

"I was," he answered, tone clearly saying, _Of course, you _know_ that!_ He leaned his face against my arm for a second, moving away before I could tense up, and looked at me in mild surprise. "Wow, no wonder you aren't cold. You feel so warm!"

I couldn't keep from laughing at that, even as my ears burned. "I am?"

"Mmmhmm. And it's not just because I'm cold, so don't even say it."

"Right, right. Even though it is"

"Oh, just eat your lunch."

We lapsed into silence again, making our way leisurely through the rest of our lunches and enjoying the silence and solitude of the little world we had discovered at the back of the school. I looked up at the sunlight that managed to find its way down through the leaves, the little flashes of pale gold that sparkled in bright, fleeting patched before darting behind the leaves and making them glow. Shadows dappled across Eiji and I, and though we could hear the sounds of the other students just around the corner, it was like we really were in another world of our own.

After a bit, I shifted so that, instead of resting with just our shoulders touching, we were leaning into each other a bit. I hadn't thought about what I was going to do. It just seemed like I should. Eiji didn't react at all except to curve into the cradle of our bodies a little more comfortably. It should have been strange how easily we fit together, but it wasn't. It just felt...right.

"Hey, Oishi?"

"Hmm?"

Eiji's voice was suddenly shy, almost uncertain. "Things feel right between us again...don't they?"

I closed my eyes and nodded. I didn't want to talk too much. I was enjoying this little pocket of serenity too much. "Mmhmm."

"I'm glad." Eiji dropped his head on my shoulder for a moment. "It felt too weird when things were...um, weird."

I could feel him wrinkling his nose, or frowning. Probably both. "It felt weird when things were weird. And did you know pain is painful, Eiji?"

"Shut up, Oishi." He sat up, and I cracked open one eye. He was making a face at me, but I could tell he wasn't really annoyed. I raised my eyebrows at him--_Hey, you're the one who said it_--and closed my eyes again. Eiji sighed. "Meanie."

"You know you like it," I muttered quietly with a smile.

Eiji let out a faint snort, and I felt his hand entwine with mine. His voice was full of that impish, wry smile I adored, but he spoke almost too quietly to be heard. "Yeah, I do."

I opened my eyes a hair again, and looked down. Eiji wasn't looking at me or the hand he held, but his thumb ran back and forth over the back of my hand, and he gently flexed his fingers in mine once. I smiled a little wider, and curled my fingers around his before shutting my eyes once more.

This wasn't strange at all. What had I been so worried about? Right then I didn't care who knew about us or what they thought.

There was just something about the moment that made everything seem all right.


	9. Chapter Eight: Family Ties

Author's Note: FLIPPING MUSES! Smashes things Okay. So. My muses decided, hmm, Sabrina's back at school now, working on an opera and things, let's start being all pushy and whatnot! So not only do they turn up the heat on what to write in this and the other two stories I was working on, not only do they pressure me to revive a fic I haven't updated in 6 months, but they decide to push me to WRITE THREE NEW THINGS TOO! Dies Guh. Creativity is zapped to death. We'll see how this turns out. In real news, I'm wondering if this story isn't coming to a close...I mean, it doesn't feel like it, but I'm not sure it'll be going much longer. I just don't see it breaking 12 chapters (well, with interludes I guess it'll be more like 14 chapters, but still). Maybe it's the lack of plot. Yoohoo, plot! Anywhere, anywhere? I neeeeeeed one! Um. This time it's Eiji. Enjoy?

****

Chapter Eight: Family Ties

_And now I swear  
That when you want me I'm gonna be right there  
To care for you  
_-"Fantasies Come True," Avenue Q

"Eiji has a girlfriend," one of my sisters announced in the middle of dinner, and I choked on my water.

"What's this now?" my father said absently, mostly busy concentrating on serving himself some more soup.

"Dad, you're just like that creepy dad in that movie," one of my brothers piped up. "Leave some of the fish things for us!"

"The spiral movie?" my aunt asked curiously. "That was awfully strange, wasn't it? Not scary so much as it was odd."

"Eiji, are you all right?" my mother asked. "You aren't choking are you?"

I shook my head and managed to stop coughing. "I'm fine," I managed to croak out in between coughs. "Swallowed wrong."

"He's embarrassed because I figured out he's dating someone," my sister interjected again, and I somehow flipped a chopstick into my bowl and splattered miso all over the tablecloth.

"Eiji, watch your manners," my grandmother said absently while my siblings all laughed.

"All of you, hush!" My mother handed me an extra napkin and frowned at the three of them. "Honestly. Don't tease your brother. Eiji, what's this about you dating? You haven't said anything."

And people wondered why I can't stand my family. Bunch of overly persistent loonies. "What makes you all think I'm dating anyone?"

"You're all moony and distant," my sister answered pertly. "You're smiling like a lunatic most of the time, more than usual-"

"Watch it, young lady," my mother warned.

"-You keep running for the phone and talking with someone on it every chance you get, and whenever you finish you run around basically acting like a thirteen year old girl with a crush. You know," she continued with an evil grin, "just like those two do."

Both of my brothers stopped snickering immediately, and my father stood up and headed towards the kitchen. "I think I'll get some more naruto for the soup."

"Thank you, dear." Mom looked at me closely and shook her head. "Oh, don't be so easily provoked, Eiji, your sister's just teasing you. Everyone acts a little sillier when they have crushes, you've just been acting even more so than the last few years. I just figured you'd found out this girl was finally available or something, I hadn't realized you might be dating."

_"You knew?"_ Make that a bunch of overly _perceptive_, persistent loonies. Curse them all.

My other sister carefully selected another slice of bread. She never eats pieces with too many holes or anything too near the heels, so it took a little time. "Of course we did. Are you going to tell us who she is now?"

"No!"

"That means she's ugly," one of my brothers replied.

"What, like Megu?"

"Lay off my girlfriend, Aoi, at least she's got breasts, unlike you!"

_"Enough!"_ My mother slammed her hands onto the table and sent each of us a measuring look. "Can we please. Just have. A nice, peaceful dinner. For once."

No one replied. I think my sibs were paralyzed with fear. At least that was my reasoning, anyway. Mom smiled into the silence. It wasn't reassuring. "Good."

She sat back in her chair and went back to the meal. "So, who is this girl, Eiji?"

"There isn't any girl," I mumbled sullenly.

"Riiight," my brother drawled, "you're just acting guilty for the fun of it."

"There isn't," I repeated through gritted teeth, "any girl!"

"All right," my aunt interrupted peaceably, "we understand that you don't want to tell us who she is. Let's drop the subject, everyone, shall we?" She turned to my father as he returned from the kitchen. "Are we still planning on catching that movie this weekend?"

"Movie?" my sisters chorused curiously in unison.

"Aw, Dad, are _all_ of us supposed to go?" my brother asked.

Dad shook his head. "No, your mother, your aunt and uncle and I are going out together, that's all. I know you have that concert you're going to Saturday night, and Aoi's got her drama club rehearsal, and Eiji has tennis practice. You're all free to do what you have to do."

"Is it like a double date thing?" one of my sisters asked.

"I do _not_ want to think about that!" the other one cried, closing her eyes.

"Oh, don't be such a juvenile, what did you think they did before they got married?"

"Great, now you're going to lecture us about how them having sex isn't gross because otherwise we wouldn't exist, aren't you?"

"Gross!" my brothers and I all cried at the same time.

How Oishi could enjoy having dinner here was really beyond me. I didn't care how much I loved him...if he wanted to come to dinner as my boyfriend instead of just my doubles partner, I'd have to commit him.

* * *

People usually thought I was exaggerating. They're partly right...I don't hate my family that much. But they really are a pain most of the time, and that night especially they seemed dead-set on being as irritating as possible. And it kept going, even after dinner. 

"So, little brother." A pillow dropped over my face where I lay with my eyes closed on the bedroom floor. "You going to bring her over here much?"

I pushed the pillow away and rolled out of the way before my brother could start wrestling with me or anything like that. "Nope, because she doesn't exist."

"Suuure." He flashed me a feral grin, and I felt my stomach sink. "You know, you can't lock me out of here like Kazuki can."

"So? Do you have a point, or are you trying to bother me?"

"Oh, nothing." My brother dropped onto his level of the bunk bed and I glared at it jealously. Our bunk was one of the models with varying bed sizes, a single on top for me and a double on the bottom. My brothers shared a room whenever I had friends stay the night once I got too old to share his bed while they took mine, but I wished we didn't even have to do that. Had Oishi ever even seen _my_ bunk? We always slept on the bottom bed. Not that anyone knew we still shared one bed.

...oh, no...

It suddenly hit me what my brother was getting at. Our oldest brother had his own room, so he could lock everyone out when he wanted his privacy. Both sisters shared a room, but neither of them would tease the other about something as serious as a _boy_, and if any of us entered without getting permission...well, it wasn't a good idea. Once I had gone looking for a CD I'd lent one of them and had gone into their room without asking beforehand or even knocking. Granted, both of them were inside when I opened the door, and simply working on homework, but my parents had _not_ been happy. At any rate, they were safe from pestering when their boyfriends came over.

I couldn't lock the door because there were two of us in one room, and there were no rules about the girls coming in like with us. That meant I wasn't just prey to the teasing of one sibling, but all four of them.

I sat up and slammed my hands onto the floor angrily. "Leave it alone, all right?"

My brother put a finger to his lips mockingly and pretended to think about it. "Well...but it _is_ little Eiji's first relationship. You're the _baby_, and you're just growing up so _fast_..."

"Knock it off!"

"We should be around to help if you need advice on kissing, or holding hands, or-"

"I said knock it off!"

My brother shot an evil grin my way. "Eiji and someone, sittin' in a tree-"

I hurled the pillow at his head and stood. _"Mom! Make him stop!"_

My mother's voice drifted down the hall to our room. "Quit pestering your brother, Tetsu. Go do your homework downstairs."

I stuck out my tongue, and to my frustration my brother only shrugged philosophically and left the room without the faintest sign of annoyance. Well, why should he be annoyed? He'd won that round. Curse him. If I got a chance, I was going to pour ketchup in his shoes.

I flopped back onto the floor and rubbed my hands over my face. This was a problem. I hadn't figured out whether or not I was going to mention this to my family at all yet, and now the next time Oishi came over they'd be interrogating him about this new "girlfriend" of mine. I didn't know how he'd react. What if he took it the wrong way? I didn't want to hurt him like that, not when things were still so new and wonderful.

And I didn't want to subject the love of my life to my siblings' teasing, either. I'd been on the receiving end of it enough to know it was never fun.

There was a light tap on the open door, and I uncovered my eyes and lifted my head enough to see who was there. When I saw it was my mother, I quickly got back up and started to go over to take the pile of laundry from her arms. She waved me away with one hand dismissively and took my clothes over to my dresser herself. After she set them down, she turned to me with a look of concern. "Are you all right, Eiji?"

"Fine," I muttered, not meeting her eyes. "They shouldn't keep bugging me when I ask them not to."

"No," she agreed, "they shouldn't. Sit down?"

I dropped onto my brother's bed and waited for her to settle in beside me. She sat down with a sigh and looked at me critically for a moment. "Eiji, you know you can tell your father and I anything, don't you?"

I didn't look up to meet her gaze. "Yeah, I know."

"I don't think you understand that we really mean that." Mom titled my chin up and took it in her hand so that I had to look at her. She was so small...that's what struck me first. It had been years since I had to look up to her. Yet she still seemed larger than me, able to care for all of us and still have strength and energy to spare. "Kitten, if you have someone, you don't have to hide it from us."

I probably should have been annoyed that she wasn't letting go of this either, but instead I smiled and ducked my head at the old nickname. "Mom, you shouldn't call me that anymore. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Oh, I know, but you're still my little one, Eiji." She laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't embarrass you like this. But I do mean what I said. You don't have to hide from us."

I smiled at her, feeling suddenly guilty. "I know. I'm sorry. It just didn't seem like anything I needed to say."

"Well, were you afraid we wouldn't like her?" My mother smiled brightly. "Have you _seen_ some of the girls Kazuki brings home? Or the boys your sisters date just to get a rise out of your father?" She laughed. "Believe me, Eiji, I highly doubt anyone you could find could top when one of them brought back that wannabe Yakuza thug...you probably remember him, the one that was in college?"

I did. It had been _very_ interesting around our house after my sister brought that guy home. "Yeah. No, it wasn't that, Mom, I..." I hesitated. "Well, maybe it was a little bit. But I think you'd approve. I just didn't think of it."

"And you probably wanted to avoid the teasing," she added wryly.

"Have you _seen_ them?" I cried in exasperation, turning to her. "Of course I wanted to avoid that! They're vicious!"

Of course, we both knew that I could be just as vicious to my brothers and sisters when I had the chance, but Mom didn't say anything. She just reached out and rubbed my shoulder. "You're the baby, Eiji. They're supposed to tease you."

I couldn't help but pout a little. "Well, it's not fair anyway."

"No, it's not. I'll tell you what...why don't you just do what I did when my older brothers teased me about my boyfriends in school?"

I looked at her again, intrigued. "What did you do?"

My mother practically giggled. "I used to sneak into their rooms when they were gone and stick burrs in their underwear drawers."

There was a moment where I simply couldn't speak. I stared at her, blinking in surprise. "You want me...to put sticky little ball things inside your sons' drawers?"

"Well, I suppose burrs are harder to find here in the city," she mused. "What's that athletic stuff you have? Bengay? Try using that."

I couldn't help it. I jumped up, only barely keeping from covering myself with my hands. _"Mom!"_

"All right, all right." My mother sighed. "I forgot about that male unity thing. Really, Eiji, don't worry too much about them. They won't give you that hard of a time."

"Not me," I muttered, "him."

Mom blinked, then let out a quiet, "Ahhh" in sudden understanding. "So you're more worried they'll tease your new love interest and ruin things on that front."

"Not ruin, just..." I ran a hand over my face. "Make things uncomfortable for them."

"Well." Mom stood up and patted my shoulder. "I'm sure they'll be fine with it. Your friends are all made of such stern stuff. I certainly trust them more than I do most of your brothers'! I have no doubt anyone you date would be just a tough."

I smiled a little. "Maybe. You really think my friends are like that?"

She nodded. "Eiji, you know I adore all of your friends. Fuji and Tezuka are so dedicated and down-to-earth, that Kawamura boy is very sweet and helpful, and Oishi is just a joy to have around. It's clear how much he cares about having you as a friend." She frowned a bit. "I suppose I'm not sure what to think about Momoshiro and Kaidoh sometimes...do they always fight like that?"

"Always." I brushed it off. "But everyone else has great friends to-"

"Eiji." Mom raised an eyebrow sardonically. "Do you forget some of the people your brothers' bring home? You have very good instincts when it comes to people...compared to them, your friends are candidates for sainthood."

I snorted. "I'll have to tell them that."

"Please do. So what's this boy's name?"

"It's-" I froze. "What?"

My mother merely stared at me curiously. "You stopped saying you weren't dating anyone. I'd like to know his name."

"I...I never said..." I fumbled, suddenly nervous and certain my face must be bright red. "What makes you think it's a...I have a..."

"Kitten." Mom laughed and pulled at my cheeks playfully. "You said _him_ earlier. I'm not stupid, you know."

The wave of nerves that washed over me must've been reflected in my face, because she suddenly went serious again and took my hands in hers. "Oh, Eiji, don't worry about it. You're young. It might be a phase, it might be real. I don't care either way, though. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters."

I nodded, but more in reflex than anything. Speaking took supreme effort. "What...what about Dad?"

My mother started to answer, then closed her mouth for a moment and thought. "I'm not sure. I honestly can't say what he would feel. He might...he might be disappointed. Then again, he might not. But even if he is, I know he'd rather you be happy than forget this and be miserable."

I nodded again, breathing a bit easier. My heart still pounded in my chest though, and I felt dizzy. "Oh." I swallowed, trying to dissolve the hard lump in my throat. "You're sure you don't mind?"

"I told you..." My mother wrapped her arms around me. "I don't care at all. Just be happy." She squeezed me tightly for a moment, then stepped back and held me at arm's length. "So, who is he? Will you tell me?"

It was so strange...telling my mother that I was dating another boy. My stomach still fluttered madly, and it was hard to answer even with her reassurance. "Um...Oishi..."

She blinked, then smiled. "I shouldn't be surprised."

With that, she turned and picked the remaining stack of laundry off my brother's bed again. "Well, I'd better get back to work. Don't you envy me so."

I laughed a little at that. It felt forced and weak, but it was still a laugh. She smiled back and me and headed out the door. "Don't forget to finish your homework, Eiji!"

I waved after her, closing the door as she left, and stared at my hand on the doorknob for a moment. Maybe a minute or two later I pulled myself up onto my bunk and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling.

When my heart failed to slow down or my thoughts to stop dashing about in mad circles, I leaned over the bunk, picked my cell phone off of the top of the bookshelf leaning against the bunk, and dialed Oishi's number.


	10. Chapter Nine: First Impressions Again

_Author's Note: Wheee chaos. This is the part where we cue my death from stress. My world has exploded. Completely. It's been nine months of nothing but chaos! GYAH! Ahem. I'm doing better, though not very well still, and unfortunately this story is not easy to write well when you're so depressed that even suicide doesn't offer a way out, and I didn't want to update with something that would disappoint you all after waiting so patiently for so long. But! I checked my profile and just about had a heart attack...this thing is like HALF the length of my only other fic to get over 20 reviews and it only has one review less! I think I nearly died of surprise and happiness. You all kept reading even when I wasn't writing...thank you so much! The last few updates should come more frequently now. Thanks again! This time it's Oishi's turn. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Nine: First Impressions Again**

_Butterflies all having fun, you know what I mean  
Sleep in peace when the day is done  
And this old world is a new world  
And a bold world for me  
_-Michael Buble, "Feeling Good"

Echizen stared up at me from beneath the bill of his cap and I cleared my throat, unnerved. I'd just been walking to the locker rooms and there he was, standing in my way as if he wanted to get stepped on. "Ah...hello, Echizen."

"Yo." He stepped past me, and my nerves jumped guiltily. It never failed...I'd think the kid had some agenda to pursue and then he'd just walk on past as if I'd interrupted him. Weird. I started back into the building, and suddenly a voice stopped me.

"Kikumaru-senpai's already inside."

I looked back over my shoulder at our first year prodigy, startled. "What?"

Echizen shifted his grip on his racquet case and didn't turn to look at me. "He's in a good mood. It's annoying."

I willed my heart to stop racing. "...Oh, well...that's just Eiji..." I answered lamely, smiling to lift the tension. Echizen finally glanced back at me, one eyebrow raised, then shrugged and stared back on his way.

"Whatever."

I watched him for a minute more, perplexed. What was _that _all about?

Three seconds later it didn't matter what it might have been about, because Eiji suddenly came flying out and tackled me from behind. "Ooooooishiiiiii! Hi!"

I leaned forward under his weight but didn't stumble. I was too used to this sort of thing. "Eiji, I need to get changed."

"Ah, yeah!" Eiji let go of me and stepped back. "Sorry, sorry. Momo wants to go out for food after this. Should we go?"

"Maybe. Who all is going?"

"Echizen, I think Inui and Fuji might be, and we'd be going by Taka's father's place so I'm sure he'll be there, too."

I smiled, but for some reason I felt disappointed. "Sure. That sounds great."

"All right!" Eiji beamed, and started off towards the courts. "See you in a bit, then."

I waved before heading into the locker room. That odd feeling was still with me, giving me the unusual desire to pout and refuse to go. And that wasn't like me at all. Eiji did enough pouting for the both of us, even if he was joking most of the time.

Except I'd been feeling like that more and more lately. The occasional lunchtime meetings and walks home together were the only times I was complete free of that strange, vague sense of dissatisfaction. It just didn't make much sense. Everything was the same as it had always been...

Oh. _That_ was it. Everything was almost exactly the same as before Eiji and I had confessed, and that didn't seem quite right. It was as if we still only best friends, and I wanted to know exactly what we really were to each other.

"Eiji, are you free this weekend?"

The words burst out of me unexpectedly--I wasn't even aware I'd intended to speak. Eiji turned back to me, his smiling face lighting up even more. I noticed that happened whenever I suggested we meet up, even just after practice or for lunch, and even if there wasn't any guarantee that we'd be alone. It should have made me uneasy; part of me was acutely aware of how it broadcast his feelings to everyone around us. But the larger part of me lit up inside just as much as Eiji's smile when he looked at me in those moments. "After I finish my chores on Saturday, yeah."

My stomach bounced around nervously. "Well...can we meet up for dinner maybe?"

"Sure!" Eiji absently scratched a finger over the bandage on his cheek, and my lips twitched. "Your mom's a great cook. I'll just let my family-'

"Actually," I interrupted nervously, lowering my voice in case there was anyone nearby who could hear, "I thought we could...maybe eat out."

Eiji's brows drew together for a moment in perplexity, and I rushed on. "I mean, we could...it might be nice to go to a movie together, and then go get...go out to dinner, maybe go to the public courts or the park afterwards, but it might be too dark, that might be a bad idea-"

I was babbling and I knew it. When Eiji cut in quietly, it was a relief. "Like a date, you mean?"

His voice was barely audible, and I was struck with the thought that Eiji was as unsure of letting anyone else know as I was. But...still... "Yeah," I answered with a weak grin. "Exactly. If you want to, I mean."

Eiji studied me intently with those big blue eyes of his, all the playful innocence gone again, his expression unreadable. My stomach stopped jumping and launched into a full acrobatics routine that would have put my partner to shame. I was seriously beginning to wonder if I was going to be ill when he finally answered.

"Of course I want to." He smiled wickedly and playfully shoved me with one shaking hand. "Took you long enough to ask!"

I almost toppled over even at the weak push, I was so shaky, but I just frowned at him mockingly. "You could have, too, you know."

"Nah, I've seen my sister's manga. The taller ones are always the ones who make the first move, so there!"

I threw up my hands in defeat. "All right, all right. Fine, you wi--wait, which of your sister's manga?"

Eiji just grinned more and brushed past me. "We can work out the details when we're walking home today, okay? Hurry up, I don't want Tezuka to give me laps again!"

I followed him serenely, and tried not to look like too much of a grinning lunatic.

* * *

It was a lucky thing that I knew Eiji well enough to feel safe in guessing the level of formality for our date. Even so, figuring out exactly what was dressing up too much was not one of the easier things I'd ever done. I vowed silently to never tease my little sister about agonizing over dressing for her dates as I studied my reflection in the bathroom mirror and put an extra dab of gel on the crown of my head to make sure none of my cowlicks popped up.

I didn't think I looked that much different than any other day; same hair, no weird colognes or anything (not that I had any--strong scents sometimes caused my sister to have a small allergic reaction and I didn't want to risk causing one), none of the flashy clothes I'd seen some of the high school guys wear out on the town. I wanted to put some effort into my appearance, but at the same time I wasn't comfortable going completely formal, and I doubted Eiji would be, either. All I'd done was make sure my shirt was freshly ironed, and I'd worn slacks and dress shoes instead of sneakers, but not much more. It seemed like the right combination. I just hoped the rest of this date would go as smoothly.

Eiji and I had agreed to catch the movie before dinner, in case something came up and we had to be home earlier than expected or if we decided to go out somewhere else again afterward. My mother had helped me pick out an affordable restaurant, though she'd been confused as to why we weren't just going to Takashi's father's place as usual, and Eiji and I had decided we'd pick the movie once we got to the theater, but despite all of the planning, I was even more nervous than before a tournament match. I was certain something was going to go wrong, and I wanted everything to be perfect.

When Eiji's eldest sister answered the door, she invited me in warmly before turning and screaming like a kappa up the stairs at her brother. _"Eiji!_ Come _on,_ your friend's here to get you so you _have_ to let me use the bathroom now! I have a date in a few hours, you know!"

I smiled and stifled a laugh at the same time as my partner's annoyed shout rang down the stairwell, yelling things that would most certainly get him in a lot of trouble with his mother if she heard.

"Eiji Kikumaru, I heard that! If I hear you use that sort of language again, I don't care who you're spending time with, you'll be confined to your room!"

I winced a little. Eiji's mother certainly had strong lungs, and the living room wasn't that far to my right.

A moment later, Eiji came crashing down the stairs and skidded to a halt just before he ran into his sister. "You don't need three hours to get ready!"

"You only say that because you're a boy."

Eiji stuck out his tongue, then turned to me and broke into a smile. "Hey Oishi! I'm ready!"

I grinned back to cover the fact that I need to un-swallow my tongue before I spoke. I'd been right in my assessment of proper attire, but it was still an unexpected surprise to see Eiji in what looked like a brand new lime-green dress shirt actually tucked into his black slacks, with his hair still slightly damp at the ends as if he'd been fighting with it until the very last minute. He looked great, that was expected. What wasn't what how happy it made me to see him dress up even a little bit for _me._

I made another mental note to never tease my sister for having sappy romantic thoughts. Given how many I was having lately, that would just be hypocritical.

"All right, then." I rubbed the side of my face in an unconscious nervous gesture, and glanced towards the door. "Should we get going, then?"

"The sooner the better," he answered, with a death glare towards his sister, who ignored him completely. Eiji just rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm. "Okay, let's go."

The movie theater wasn't too far; just a few blocks to the bus stop, then four stops before we got out right across the street from our destination. Eiji chattered almost nonstop the entire time about a new video game he'd borrowed from Fuji and upcoming practices, and the bus hadn't been very full at all for once. So far, so good.

Now, as my partner studied the movie posters outside the box office, I had to laugh a little at how serious he looked. "Eiji, it's just a movie!"

"And a date," he reminded me in a patronizing tone. "Although if it matters so little, maybe we can check out Terminator 3?'

I groaned and dropped my head into one hand. "That's just cruel."

"For your information, even my sisters like the first two movies." Still, Eiji moved on with a wry smile. "Nah, I heard it wasn't very good anyway. Most of these movies are chick flicks. What do _you_ want to see?"

"It really doesn't make that big a difference. I haven't heard much about any of them."

Eiji let out a long-suffering sigh and turned his back to the posters, covering his eyes with one hand and throwing out the other for balance. "All right, fine. Whatever I point at is what we see."

He spun around rapidly several times and staggered a bit before his finger bumped up against a poster for a romantic comedy starring an actress my mother adored and the lead actor from the "Stray Cat Rock" movies. Eiji opened his eyes and glanced back at me. "This okay?"

"Fine by me. I think I saw a commercial for this. It looked funny."

Eiji grinned. "Perfect, then!" He moved closer until he could almost whisper in my ear.

"That manga said you're supposed to buy my ticket, too."

I flipped out 20,000 yen and grinned at him. "I already planned on it. And I didn't have to steal anyone's dirty manga to figure it out, either."

* * *

"Let's sit in the back."

I looked at Eiji in surprise, but he only stared back at me with guilessly. "It's not very crowded, and I want to be able to talk to you during the movie, too."

Eiji tended to crack his own jokes when the ones in the film didn't suit him. I shrugged, secretly glad we wouldn't have to deal with people glaring at us if he couldn't be quiet. "I'm fine with it. We need to be in the middle, though."

"There's no one at all in the last four rows." Eiji pointed. "Let's sit in the last row, then."

We dropped into our seats far from the rest of the audience, and Eiji snatched the extra-large popcorn bucket out of my hands and into his own lap. I turned to him indignantly. "Hey, share!"

"It's my popcorn," Eiji pouted. "I bought it."

"Yeah, because you had a guilt attack over the tickets. Come on, give it."

"You can reach it fine."

I just raised an eyebrow and stared at him. "Eiji."

He tried to glare back at me, but both of us knew if I didn't take the popcorn back, Eiji would eat all of it before the movie was ten minutes it. With a resigned sigh and a sad puppy look, my partner surrendered the bucket to me and I set it on the empty seat to my left. "I'll give it back after the previews."

"Meanie."

"Now you'll have to wait until after the opening credits."

Eiji shut up.

A few minutes into the movie, I had to be glad Eiji had pulled that stunt in front of the theater. It wasn't half bad; clearly a date movie for the college and older set, but it was still really funny, and the two leads had really amusing chemistry despite the cliche setting and script. It was a little hard to concentrate whenever Eiji laughed, since it sent a wonderful shiver all down my spine every time, but I was definitely enjoying the movie and it seemed like he was, too.

Even with the popcorn rationing, the entire bucket was empty a third of the way through the film. I decided against getting the free refill because of dinner, and Eiji didn't ask for one, so after I tossed the empty container into the trashcan at the theater entrance, I settled back in my seat and prepared to go back to enjoying the movie.

_I should tell mom and my sister to see this next time they go out together. They'd like it._

Eiji shifted restlessly beside me, then subsided and sat so still that I was a bit surprised. Eiji never sat still. He was always shifting his weight, crossing and uncrossing his legs, switching armrests...I hadn't thought he was that into the movie. I was about to ask him about it when I felt finger brush hesitantly over the back of my hand for a split second.

I froze, glancing at Eiji out of the corner of my eye. He stared straight ahead at the movie screen, but a moment later his hand hesitantly hovered over mine again before coming to rest lightly over it.

The couple on screen chatted and exchanged witty barbs before us, but I was no longer paying attention. All of my attention was focused on the boy beside me; Eiji's hand resting on mine, Eiji's head against my shoulder, Eiji's hair and breath tickling my cheek...

The woman snapped something at her future love interest and Eiji let out a short, soft laugh. His head moved a bit against my shoulder and the sound vibrated through me. My stomach tightened and I looked over at him, at the little perfectly parted slick on his head, at the few strands of hair dancing minutely in the air-conditioned theater. My breathing went shallow and my insides vibrated madly. An idea crossed my mind and for some reason I listened to it despite the absurdity of the urge. While the hero's wacky best friend wreaked havoc onscreen, I took a shaky breath and brushed my lips lightly over the part in Eiji's hair.

There was a quick, sharp intake of breath from my partner, but he didn't flinch away. I hesitated a mere handbreadth above his hair, then repeated the gesture more shyly. Eiji shivered almost imperceptibly beneath my lips and he tightened his hand over mine so that our fingers were entwined. I turned my hand without thinking so that I held his back and rested my chin on his head, breathing in the scent of his shampoo and sweat.

Eiji sighed contentedly and glanced up at me with a small smile. I started to smile back, and stopped. Eiji's eyes were completely dark in the theater, and his features were muted around the edges, softer, dreamlike. I let one hand hesitantly brush against his cheek, testing the dream.

When neither of us woke up, I caught up his face with both hands and kissed him.

Eiji kissed me back easily, almost lazily, yet even the sweet, barely there moment was full of electricity. It occurred to me suddenly that I had never kissed him before, not really...he'd sort of kissed me that first time, and there had been a couple short pecks on the cheek when we'd say goodbye at our homes, but nothing more than that. We were always out where people could see us, and it was an unspoken agreement we had that we weren't going to be one of those couples that thrives on public displays. But here we were practically the only people in the theater, sitting in the back where I had insisted so that our chatter wouldn't disturb anyone, in the dark, shrouded from everyone's eyes but our own.

Eiji turned in his seat so that his body faced mine, and I followed suit without thinking. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his lips more insistently against mine. I certainly wasn't about to object. I knew we had both kissed other girls a few times (he more than me, at least if you counted spin-the-bottle stories at parties) so I shouldn't have been surprised at how much we both seemed to be enjoying this. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't inexperienced or fumbling...it certainly helped that we were so close to the same height, too. And of course, we both wanted to. That was the biggest reason right there.

Eiji's fingers trembled a little where they pressed into my back, and I felt my heart speed up. It was like an unspoken cue--in the space of a flash on the screen the kiss went from gentle and tender to intense, hungry, demanding. Eiji's chest heaved against mine as his breath sped up. I seemed to be having difficulty breathing myself. There seemed to be a distinct possibility that I might have swallowed his tongue by mistake...or him mine. It was hard to tell.

Somewhere in all the air-conditioned heat, Eiji managed to slide a hand underneath the back of my shirt.

Oh yes...there definitely was _not_ enough oxygen in the theater.

I pulled away and caught my breath. "Eiji, I can't breathe."

"Me neither." Those all-pupil eyes stared at me from beneath half-lowered lips, dazed. He leaned back in. "Let's pass out together."

"Eiji!" I ducked sideways to avoid him. "Stop!"

He did, startled. "...why?"

The hurt was so plain that I hesitated. Why _had_ I stopped? I didn't entirely know, so I temporized. "It's not because of you-"

"Well, I figured that," he whispered back harshly, "you _seemed_ like you were enjoying it, too! So what happened?"

I let out a whoosh of breath and thought some more. I didn't realize what the silence could mean, though, until Eiji spoke again. "You...did like it, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!" I whispered back emphatically. "I'm thinking, that's all. I don't know why yet."

Eiji's voice was small, but he didn't ask any more questions. "Oh. All right."

I let my thoughts unravel again, and after a moment of silence broken only by the chatter of the movie we had long since forgotten about I had my answer. "We've never kissed before."

"No." His voice was still small, and it hurt me to hear it. "We haven't."

I didn't want him to keep feeling so helpless. I hoped I wouldn't suddenly say something wrong. "It's...a little bit scary."

Eiji didn't answer for a long moment, and I was terrified that the easy repartee we had, that effortless interaction and conversation, was gone. I started to jump in to rectify things but he interrupted my unspoken words. "Is that all?"

"Well...yes, I think so."

Eiji suddenly sighed in relief and sagged against me. "Oh, that's great. I was worried it was something worse." He buried his face against my shoulder and I just held him there, feeling his breath through my shirt against my skin. "I'm kind of nervous, too. But I don't really care. As long as it's with you, Oishi."

I smiled, and let my face rest against his hair. I didn't say anything, and neither did he. We didn't have to, and we had forgotten how.


	11. Chapter Ten: Well Known Secrets

_Author's Note: Blinks Wow...um...I...broke 70 reviews...WOW! That's a new record for me! WOW! Just...yay! . All right, let's see if I can make this my first fic ever to break 100! ...maybe not, it's not THAT good, but meh . Anyway. Sorry about not updating before January like I promised, my disk was corrupted and my little brother had to extract all my files before I could update...but at least it wasn't for TOO long! It's been a very interesting Christmas break, we're leading up to a very exciting 21st birthday celebration in Las Vegas, and the germ of an idea about a sequel to this fic has decided it really wants to happen. So how about it? Would any of you want to read it? It'd be shorter (sorry), set probably in the first year of college, and possibly steamier (because you all keep asking and I feel guilty for not complying), but there you have it. If the people want it, it will happen! Ahem. Anyway, this chapter's Eiji's again, though the entirety of the Seigaku regulars get to show up and play a major role for once . Next up is the interlude with Kaidoh (hoo boy), and then the final chapters. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Ten: Well-Known Secrets**

_I don't care 'cause sometimes  
__I say sometimes I hear my voice  
__And it's been here, silent all these years  
_-Tori Amos, "Silent All These Years"

Oishi was predictable. There was more than enough time to get changed before practice and still have time left over to grab something to eat and do all of his homework, but he still showed up to get ready at the same time, well before anyone else did, including Tezuka. I grinned at my partner's back, glanced back out the door to make sure no one else was breaking routine and showing up early, then launched myself over the benches to tackle him from behind.

Oishi staggered a little under my weight, then turned his head to look at me with a grin. "You're early, Ei-"

I dropped a quick kiss on his lips in the middle of his sentence and winked at him playfully. "I know."

Oishi blinked, glanced around perfunctorily, then grinned back and me and pried my arms off. Without any warning, he dragged me--well, he pulled, I followed without any protest at all--into one of the back corners of the clubhouse and let out a short laugh. "This is certainly spontaneous."

"Nope!" I grinned expectantly. "Planned the whole thing this morning."

"Oh, well, in that case I don't want to get in the way of your plans, do I?" Oishi raised his eyebrows at me. "You think ahead so rarely-"

I made a face at him and when he leaned in to kiss me, I bit lightly at his lip. He let out a surprised yelp and moved back, staring at me. I just stuck out my tongue. "That was needlessly mean of you, nya!"

Oishi sighed and closed his eyes. "All right, sorry." He opened one eye, and though his voice was still sober, his expression was anything but. "Can I make it up to you?"

"Probably. Does it involve ice cream with extra chocolate sauce?"

His other eye flew open and Oishi looked at me suspiciously. "Just what all does this plan of yours entail?"

I gave up, and laughed, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I'm kidding, Oishi, jeez!"

Oishi brushed his lips briefly over mine and smiled. "I know you were."

I closed my eyes contentedly and let myself indulge, breathing in the kiss and everything it entailed; the scent of Oishi, the intoxicating taste of salt on his lips, the heat of his breath, the coolness of his hands on the back of my neck, the sound of his breathing as if there was nothing else in the world to ever disturb us...

Those were the moments when time stopped, and there really was nothing more to the world but the two of us.

I wasn't sure which of us finally pulled away both after an eternity and far too soon. I rested my head against Oishi's chest and smiled to myself, inside and out. He tightened his arms around me, burying his face in my hair, and I glowed. I know I'd always laughed at or complained about the couples that couldn't seem to go more than three seconds without melting into each other or making out right in public, and the very idea of people seeing just how much I really cared for my doubles partner still frightened me. But I thought I was beginning to understand why those couples did it.

It's hard to be alone as half of a perfect whole.

"The rest of the team should be coming in soon," Oishi murmured against my scalp, his breath a caress over the skin.

"Mmm." I shook my head and closed my eyes again, wanting to enjoy this as long as possible before we had to break it up. "You show up a good twenty minutes early every day. We have time."

"It's..." Oishi pulled one arm up over my head and lifted his own, studying his watch I assumed. "You've been here ten minutes already."

"So we have at least five left."

"Eiji."

I looked up and let him kiss me again, briefly this time, but it still made me want to fly I felt so light-headed. He smiled kindly at me and took my chin with his hand, titling my face upward. "You taste like chocolate and grape Ponta."

My mouth dropped open in horror and I pulled away, staring at him. "...You are _kidding_ me!"

Oishi snorted, then laughed outright. I pouted and started beating at him with my fists. "Oi! Take that back! Take it back right _now,_ Oishi, I mean it!"

"What," he snickered, ignoring the blows I rained on his shoulders, back, and chest, "you mean you don't brush after snacks, too?"

"You're _mean! _Really, really mean!" I let out a scream of frustration and pulled at my hair. "Oishi, you are such a jerk!"

He just shook his head, still grinning, and stifled his laughs. I frowned at him, stuck out my tongue, and crossed my arms, waiting. After another moment or two, he looked at me, still smiling. "All right. I'm sorry."

"Nuh-uh." I shook my head. "That wasn't funny."

His eyes clearly said it was, but he held out his hands in surrender. "You're right, it wasn't. Truce?"

"Ah, what's this?"

I turned back to the door to see Fuji closing it behind him as he came in. He smiled in that secretive, I-know-something-you-don't way of his and studied us. "Lover's quarrel, Kikumaru?"

"Fuji!" I yelled, hoping I didn't sound as panicked as I felt. I knew he was joking...well, I was pretty sure, anyway...but his words still stopped my heart. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Oishi had gone paper white. "Be nice, Oishi's already being a jerk to me."

Fuji turned his attention to Oishi, his mildly amused expression barely changing saved his raised eyebrows. "Really? _Oishi_ is? This must be quite a first."

Oishi cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Come on, Fuji, we're just joking around."

"Of course." Fuji's smile widened a tiny bit, and I had the disconcerting notion he'd known exactly what to say to make us uncomfortable. _How can he always do that?_

As Fuji set his things down and Oishi and I hurried over to our lockers to get ready, Momoshiro and Echizen joined us all inside, Momo rather more noisily than our prodigious ochibi. "Hey there! Oh, Kikumaru-senpai, you're here early."

"Wonder why," Echizen mumbled. Momo elbowed him and shot him a slightly panicked glare, to which Echizen replied with a nonchalant sip of Ponta. It was odd, but I still hurried over to them and wrapped an arm around Echizen's neck, pulling him into a sideways hug. "Ah, see, getting laps from Tezuka is one thing, but I can't risk getting them from anyone else! It would be too embarrassing, nya, ochibi!"

"Kikumaru-senpai, I can't breathe."

I released him immediately and grinned. "Everybody ready for today? Huh?"

"Something special must have happened," Fuji commented, "to make you so much more excited than usual."

I ignored him and hoped Oishi did the same. "If we're all here so early today, we should get out there faster so we have more time to relax outside before practice-"

"Eiji," Oishi commented with an audible smile, "you still aren't completely dressed."

I glanced down at the shirt I still held in one hand, and wondered when I'd taken it off. "Oh. Right. Got it!"

As I went back to getting ready, I snuck a quick glance over at my friend and smiled a little wider. How could I not be anything but ecstatic with someone like that watching over me?

* * *

I awoke to see Fuji smiling serenely at me from above. "Fuji? What's up?"

"You're the last to recover," he said calmly, ignoring my momentary confusion _and_ the subsequent look of horror that spread over my face as I remembered _why_ I had been unconscious. "Once you, Echizen, and Kawamura are ready, we're all going to Kawamura's father's place. You might want to hurry."

I sat up, making a face and sticking out my tongue at the aftertaste in my mouth. _Oishi's right, I don't want to know what Inui uses in that juice. Something that tastes this bad _has _to be illegal!_ "Uck. In a second. Who won?"

"Kaidoh won all of his games. I don't think he'll be joining us; he left very quickly." Fuji looked vaguely perplexed. "He missed the chance to try Inui's new Super-Strength Redux juice. Maybe I should have played longer?"

"But you lost the first..." I trailed off, decided there was no point in trying to figure out this eternal mystery, and shrugged. "He probably has some new training program to start or something." I stretched and sprang up off the bench, suddenly dying for a glass of water and some sushi to get the rest of that taste out of my mouth. "All right, I'll be right back and ready to go!"

It's amazing how quickly you can move when you have enough incentive. Erasing all memory of the newest addition to the juice family _definitely_ counts as enough incentive. Even I was surprised that Takashi only beat me back outside by a couple of minutes.

Momoshiro had taken a cue from Echizen and grabbed some Ponta to drink on the way from one of the vending machines. The rest of us followed suit, and so the walk to Taka's restaurant went at a much more normal pace than would have normally been the case. Inui apparently timed us once to see how quickly we could get to the nearest fast food place post-juice-filled-practice; it had taken seven minutes to go nine blocks. Oishi claimed it had to be an exaggeration. I didn't care either way, but it was nice to walk somewhere to eat for once instead of the usual mad dash. I resisted the urge to hold my partner's hand as we walked together and settled for just grabbing his arm and dragging him over to a few of the better window displays. "Hey Oishi, look at these!"

"Eiji, didn't you just get a new pair of sneakers last month?"

"Yeeeees, but these are the _really_ good ones..."

"So it's Oishi-senpai," Echizen mused dryly behind us. Oishi and I both glanced back at him in confusion, and Momo turned bright red. "He didn't say anything!"

I raised an eyebrow at Oishi as we continued on our way. _O...kay..._

He shrugged. _Don't ask me._

As we all made our way to the restaurant, I kept glancing at Oishi out of the corner of my eye. Did he know how much I still adored being near him? We went out together all the time, just for fun, with the team, or on our rare private dates, not even counting times we met up for homework or dinner and TV at each other's homes, but I never got tired of seeing him. Just the opposite, in fact. I wanted to spend more time with him. I wasn't even sure it was possible to see more of him at this point, but I still wanted it. I wanted him, always by my side, just like this.

Fuji fell back from his place up front with Inui and studied me intently for a moment. I barely noticed at first, so involved in my thoughts and study of the boy I loved, until he spoke very suddenly, low in my ear. "You two are allowed to hold hands if you want to that badly, you know."

I stopped and stared at him, mouth dropping open. I'm sure Oishi's expression must've mirrored mine, as behind us Taka choked and Momo yelped, _Fuji-senpai!"_

Echizen looked at all of us from beneath the bill of his cap and finished his Ponta.

Oishi found his voice before I did. "Wh--Fuji, did you--"

Inui's back was still to us, but I could still tell when he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Given recently collected data, Kikumaru's current behavior, and Oishi's responses to said behavior, there is a 98.7 percent chance that Fuji's statement is correct."

"No there isn't!" Momo protested in a strangled voice. "He was kidding!" He sent a pointed and panicked look at my friend. _Right,_ Fuji-senpai?"

Fuji seemed not to have noticed that anything had happened since he last spoke. "It's really fine. No one will mind."

"Kawamura-senpai isn't breathing," Echizen commented, and threw his empty can into the nearest trash can.

Momo dropped his head into his hands. "Great. _That_ was subtle. Now what?"

I finally snapped out of my shocked stupor and managed to speak "What is going on here?"

Taka gasped, and his face began to fade from slightly purple to red. "I'm all right, really..."

Inui turned back to us, holding that notebook of his in front of his face. "Likelihood of Kikumaru being interested in Oishi: 99.4 percent. Likelihood of Oishi being interested in Kikumaru: 99.7 percent. Likelihood of the Golden Pair forming a romantic relationship: 98.6 percent. Likelihood that Kikumaru and Oishi are currently in before-mentioned relationship: 99.97 percent..."

"We get it," Momo grumbled, "we get it. You didn't have to say anything!"

"You said you didn't mind, either," Fuji commented with a smile. "Remember?"

"No." Echizen scratched his nose and stared at the cars going past us on the street. "He said it was about time."

Apparently it _was_ possible for Momoshiro to look more embarrassed than he already did. "I...it...thanks a lot, Echizen!"

"Um, guys?" Taka fidgeted uncomfortably, glancing up and down the sidewalk. "This really isn't the place...it's kind of awkward..."

"Wait a minute!" Oishi took a deep breath, color returning to his face. "Are you saying...what you mean is-"

"We already know, yes." Fuji took Takashi's arm and pulled him forward. "Your father is expecting us, right, Kawamura? We'll be late."

"Ah...right..."

Inui joined them as they passed, and a moment later Echizen followed, leaving Oishi and I and a still-blushing Momoshiro behind. Oishi looked at me, expression a wild mixture of confusion, fear, relief, and shock. I'm sure I didn't look much better. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach, but everything had happened so quickly I wasn't sure how to react. I started to reach out to grab onto him for comfort, but stopped myself. Instead, we both turned back towards the rest of the group as if on an unspoken cue and continued walking silently behind them.

It was so surreal: Fuji, Inui, and Echizen walked ahead of us acting as though nothing had happened, with Taka trying to do the same but talking a little too quickly to be convincing...plus he kept glancing back over his shoulder at us before looking away quickly, like he was afraid we were going to yell at him...but Oishi and I walked in total silence, unsure what to say, or even if we should say anything at all, while Momo shuffled along quietly behind us all.

Finally, when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I was going to shout and cry and laugh and curl up in a ball on the sidewalk all at the same time, Momo hurried forward to walk with us, eyes downcast, expression sheepish. "Um. Look. Sorry about all of that."

Oishi made a small, non-committal sound. I still said nothing. Momo coughed, and spoke again. "I didn't think Fuji-senpai was going to say anything. I didn't think any of us were going to. I mean, we've known for a little bit now that you...well, that you two..."

"Are dating?" The words came out more sharply than I intended, but then again I hadn't intended to say anything at all in the first place. Momo went red again, but he nodded. "Yeah. That."

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Look, what Fuji said was right. We don't mind, none of us do. It's just weird enough when Ryuzaki-sensei's grandkid flirts with Echizen and stuff, I thought since no one else mentioned it that they all agreed it was better to just let you guys alone a do your thing without it being a big deal." He frowned. "Then Fuji-senpai had to go and open his big mouth and Inui had all that data--why did he _have _that much, anyway? He's like a stalker, I didn't even think about before-"

Oishi snorted, and when I looked at him in surprise, he was holding back against more laughter. I almost asked why, but then I listened to Momo rant some more, and my own lips began to pull upward again.

Finally, Oishi got himself under control and interrupted the tirade. "Momo, Momo!" He reached around me and squeezed the younger boy's shoulder. "We get it. It's cool. That was awkward for everyone."

"Tell me about it," I muttered, and that's when all three of us couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing. We were still snickering over the whole incident (and the fact that Momo could turn redder than a balloon in less than two seconds) when we got to the Kawamura family restaurant and joined up with the others.

I grinned at Oishi as we sat with the rest of the team, and he grinned back, at ease again. It was all just the way it should have been.


	12. Interlude: Kaidoh

_Author's Note: Wow, ki-ku-maru BEAM seems to be on a one-person crusade to get me to 100 reviews! .;; Thanks everyone for your kind words and feedback, it's very helpful! Plus, wow, 21 reviews in the space of one update...I'm kind of overwhelmed, I don't deserve that much attention! But I do appreciate it a lot. Thanks so much to all of you! And heeeeere's Kaidoh! Heh, I haven't written him into the story at all yet and since he's one of my favorite characters I figured it was about time. There should be two to three more chapters after this, plus a small epilogue if I don't include it in the third chapter, and that'll be it...le sigh. But I hope you all enjoy the ending part, and this little comedic interlude. Next chapter it'll be Oishi's turn again. Enjoy!_

**Interlude: Kaidoh**

_One and two and three and four and..._

I wasn't even really aware of the mental clock in my head counting off the seconds as they passed anymore. It was all part of training; cool by running for four minutes, then walk for one, then run for four more and so on until half an hour had passed. Warm up first with the stretching exercises Inui listed, then jog for fifteen minutes before moving on to the second, third, and fourth phases. It took most of my Sunday to get through it all. Endurance training wasn't as difficult as some of the other regimes Inui had given me, but it took up the most time by far.

It was all worth it, though, so I ran through the motions every day, no matter what program it was. Like counting down the four minutes in my head without even realizing it because I'd been doing it so long.

_Forty-seven forty-eight forty-nine fifty..._

Twenty-seven minutes had passed. I'd hit thirty sometime before the park and public tennis courts. I always ran further than it would take for me to get back home by the end of training. The fifteen minute walk home was both relaxing and additional training. Just a little trick I'd added on myself to the end of Inui's program, one that he hadn't seemed to think of. Or maybe he had, and hadn't bothered mentioning it because I'd do it anyway. He noticed everything about everyone. Yeah...he probably did know I'd do it anyway. Probably didn't mention it so I didn't push myself further. No idea why anyone worried about that. I know my limits.

Didn't matter anyway. It was still good exercise.

_Fifty-eight fifty-nine sixty._

I slowed to a walk as I neared the park. There weren't many people there. Unusual. Lots of kids hit the public courts on the weekends. They'd play rounds. See who could go the longest without losing. Didn't really care why they were gone, though, just that they _were_ gone. A walk or a job on the paths would be nice.

Just so long as no one was there to see me. The Seigaku Viper, walking through little gardens and looking for animals? No way. No reason for anyone to think about things like that.

No reason to give them any reason to think about things like that.

My legs hurt a bit on the way up the stairs to the entrance. Nothing major, just protesting the unusual strain. Not a problem. I'd save a little bit of time on the way home this way to make up for it. Once I reached the entrance to the public courts, I could see immediately why so few people were there.

There never was any point in playing against Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai. Even alone, they were too good for amateurs. Together...well, no one else would get to go up and play the rounds like usual.

It was strange, though. They almost didn't seem to be playing even halfway seriously. So what was the point? Why play if you aren't giving your all and then some?

Kikumaru-senpai was laughing even more than usual. Not that it was easy to tell with him. Oishi-senpai kept lobbing trick serves at him, completely non-regulation, like he was teasing him. It was like the whole game was a joke. And they spent way too long at the net passing the balls back and forth. Weird. Very weird.

A low voice spoke behind me. "Kaidoh is distracted. Data says the likelihood of this happening is 6.3 percent. These are unusual circumstances."

I jumped up from where I had crouched behind the hedges without realizing it. "I-Inui-senpai!"

He pushed his glasses up his nose and the light flashed off of them right into my eyes. I glared and waited for my vision to clear. "What are you doing here?"

"Training regime." Inui held out his notebook for me to see. Like I understood half of what he wrote there. "Sunday is endurance training. I would venture to say that our teammate's unusual game is 84 percent likely to be what has distracted you."

"Fsshhh..."

Kikumaru-senpai let out another loud laugh and both of us crouched back down, me in embarrassment, Inui like a bird-watcher. Or a spy. What would I know about bird-watching? "Nyaaaa, Oishiiiii, stop that!"

"What?" The vice-captain was smiling wider than I'd ever seen. What _was_ this? "I'll stop if you really want..."

"Just because no one's here _now_ doesn't mean someone won't be!"

"Eiji! You sound embarrassed! Should I call Inui? This is a state I don't think the world has ever seen."

"Jerk. You're a big jerk, Oishi. Fine, if you want to gross everyone out then go ahead, but _I_ just must be a little more considerate."

"There's another new one."

Kikumaru-senpai playfully smacked Oishi-senpai and...I could swear he _sashayed_ back to his side of the court. Just plain weird.

Inui spoke beside me again. "Data says there is a 97.2 percent chance this is a date."

My stomach jumped up and strangled my vocal cords in shock and I almost fell over. It was way, way too hot all of a sudden. "D-da...da...what?"

He only looked back at his notebook. "There is confirmation that Kikumaru and Oishi are indeed romantically involved. There is further confirmation that they have been so since Oishi injured his wrist. Prior precedent shows they prefer not to show affection around classmates or teammates. Sunday is therefore the best date day by 89.7 percent."

He stood and pushed his glasses up again. "I must continue my training. Do not put extra stress on yourself, Kaidoh. I will see you tomorrow at school."

I barely heard. I barely noticed anyone leaving. Even when my other two teammates left the court, still laughing and oblivious to the rest of the world, I couldn't move.

"Da...date..."


	13. Chapter Eleven: The Heart of the Matter

_Author's Note: Whoa, almost done with this thing now! ((Weeps)) Um, this time it's Oishi and angst. But before the angst there's lots of kissing and tickle fights, so don't hate me too much? Yeah...enjoy!_

**Chapter Eleven: The Heart of the Matter**

_I want you to be unleashed  
__I want you to remember  
__I want you to believe in me  
__I want you on my side.  
_-matchbox twenty, "Downfall"

"So why am I squaring this again?"

"Because," I explained patiently, "if you want to get rid of a radical on one side of the equation, you have to square it _and_ everything on the opposite side. Then all you'll have to worry about eventually is this 3/4x2, see?"

Eiji blinked, opened his mouth, closed it again, and then grinned. "Oh! Yeah, I got it. Okay, are we done yet?"

"You know, you get these concepts easily enough. Why don't you just try paying more attention in class, and then when I come over you won't end up begging me to explain them?"

"The teachers are boring. Besides, you make more sense, nya!"

I smiled. It was probably true. The math teachers at our school had a tendency to explain how to do the problems without bothering to explain why. It made it difficult to transfer from the specific examples to homework. But still... "You still have to finish the problem, Eiji."

My partner frowned at me and stuck out his tongue. "Fine, _Mom_."

I just smiled again and went back to checking my English homework. It wasn't an insult in the slightest, after all. Eiji just wanted to have the last word.

Besides, it was hard to be angry with that little pink tip teasing me from a distance.

Just about the same time I finished revising some missed plurals, Eiji's book snapped closed and dropped onto the crown of my head. I yelped, slapped my hands over the spot, and glared. "Hey, be careful! Those books are heavy. You could've given me a concussion!"

Eiji smiled evilly and rubbed the top of my head a little harder than he needed to. "Aww, the egghead is so _sensitive_." He rapped his fist on my forehead, and I scowled. "Biiiig softie-ow!"

I lunged forward and knocked my partner against the wall with a crack. He shot back up, both hands covering his sunset hair, wincing. "Oh, you big jerk!"

"I think it'd take more than that to hurt _your_ hard head, Eiji."

He frowned at me, started to move...and I swept the pillow I'd grabbed behind his head and used it to shove him into the bedspread. "There. All better?"

Eiji thrashed, muffled shouts of annoyance wafting up my way. I snorted, waiting till he calmed down before giving him another chance to attack. After a few moments, the thrashing stopped, and the words I was waiting for drifted towards me. "Nya, Oishi, let me up? I can't breathe."

I obliged, and he pounced. "You always fall for that one!"

The wrestling match ended with both of us breathless lying on our sides on the bed, Eiji with one arm slung over his eyes, and I propped on one elbow to help get my breath back. Once I could speak, I gently nudged Eiji with my free hand to get his attention. "Maybe I like being a softie."

He grinned up at me, shaking a bit with laughter inside, and dropped his head onto my chest with a sigh. "Nya, Oishi? This is right, isn't it?" His voice grew louder as he whispered in my ear. "You and me."

I could feel my ears burning, and my stomach fluttered...not unpleasantly. It took some work, but I managed to keep breathing normally as I replied. "Of course it is."

"Mmm." He pulled back again to look at me, eyes soft and dark. "Good. Because if you leave me I'm going to have to sick Fuji on you and I like you too much to do that."

The laugh burst out of me easily, even as I ran my hand protectively over Eiji's hair. "Please don't. I don't think Fuji would leave much when he was done."

I ran a finger down the side of Eiji's cheek, down underneath his chin, and tilted his face up. "Besides, I'm not leaving. I like _you_ too much to do that."

I interrupted the growing smile with a kiss, though from the easy way my partner slipped into it, he'd known it was coming. Not that I'd been subtle in the least. Still, planned romance wasn't any worse than the spontaneous kind. It was like a gift we knew we'd given each other but still left unopened so as not to ruin the final surprise. It was just as nice either way.

I shifted so that my arms wrapped around Eiji's waist, holding him closer. In turn, he pressed his chest up against mine and slipped one arm around my neck as he sank deeper into the kiss. His mouth was cool, like rain or the morning air, a biting mint taste spreading through my own as I breathed him in. I pulled away reluctantly and let out a slow breath. "What was that?"

Huge, slightly dazed blue eyes blinked at me for a moment, and then Eiji laughed. "Oh! Well, now you won't wonder why I get so mad when my sister uses up my toothpaste."

I shook my head, to clear it just as much to agree with him. "Not in the least."

"My turn," Eiji chirped cheerfully, and dove right back in.

There was less tenderness this time, more playfulness and teasing. The heat was still there, but it was hard to keep from laughing as we exchanged short nips, nose bites, and surprise tickles. Half the time I couldn't keep from laughing as it was, and Eiji wasn't having much more luck than I. It was just as much fun, and just as nice, and at the same time it was as if we were just talking, hanging out, being friends. Minus the fact it was done through kissing, of course.

I pushed Eiji off of my chest after another short tickle fight and looked around, breathless. "Where's my shirt?"

My friend's eyes were more than a little glazed at this point, but still bright. He put a hand to his head, grinning ridiculously, and sank back on his heels. "When did it disappear?"

"Well, you had your hands under it when you were tickling me...which was cheating, by the way..."

"Hey, you went after my bare feet earlier. Fair's fair."

"But you have such nice toes." I sat up, flashing him a wry grin. "Edible."

"If you have a foot fetish, I'll have to break up with you."

"You wouldn't do that." I dove at him and pulled at his earlobe with my teeth before blowing into it. Eiji let out a shriek to shatter glass and jerked his head away, clapping a hand over his ear, and I snorted. "You already said you like me too much."

"Yes, but maybe my feet don't," came the answer muffled by my own body as Eiji buried his face against my chest. The words buzzed against my ribcage and I stopped breathing. Feeling a wash of heat go through me, I pushed his head away. Eiji stuck out his tongue at me, and pressed his face against my neck, trailing light kisses along the line where my pulse fluttered. I closed my eyes and let him. "Eiji..."

Somewhere from outside the haze came a knowing chuckle. "Oishi wa oishii," he whispered jokingly before moving his lips to meet mine again.

At that point, I lost track of everything. We just rested there, half sprawled over the bunk, tasting, touching, exploring, memorizing, immortalizing. He was so beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful.

"I love you, Oishi," he whispered against my lips, running a hand down my cheek. "Always."

I wrapped an arm back around him and broke the kiss for just a moment. "I know."

The click of the door opening interrupted our kisses. "Hey, bro, can you and your friend shove out for a bit so I-" Eiji's brother stopped with his hand still on the doorknob as he turned to face us. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open the tiniest bit. We threw ourselves apart as if we'd been shocked, Eiji fumbling to redo the buttons on his shirt as I looked around frantically for my own. Not that it made much difference. It was pretty obvious what we'd been up to. The young man coughed, and looked at his brother. "Eiji? Is...he's the girlfriend?"

Irrational protests rose up in the back of my throat and I fought down the hysterical urge to demand why _I_ was the girl. Eiji didn't answer. He looked back at me for a moment, then at his brother. "He..."

After a silence that seemed far too long, his brother rubbed a hand over his face. He suddenly threw open the door and took off down the hallway. "Kazuki! Get out here!"

"No, wait!" Eiji's voice cracked, and he fumbled more with his shirt. "Oh, _shit_, stupid..." He shot me a panicked, helpless look. "Oishi?"

I stared back at him, at a loss. Guiless eyes were flooded with panic. I wasn't sure what to do or so. The words came out without me thinking. "Go. I'll catch up."

Eiji nodded, no less distressed, and jumped down from the bed without finishing re-buttoning his shirt. He landed with none of his usual lightness and ran after his brother, bare feet slapping loudly on the floor. "Tetsu, just hold on for a second!"

I stared at the empty doorway, lost, and unable to move.

_How did this happen? _Why _did this happen? What am I supposed to do?_

The sound of voices rising began to drift back down the hall. How long had I been just standing there? Or was it...no. It wasn't that things were escalating that quickly. I was overreacting. Eiji needed me for support. I had to be calm.

With a heavy heart, I began searching for my missing shirt.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find them. All I had to do was follow the yelling. I found myself wishing desperately that at least one of the adults was home, any of them. Even Eiji's grandmother could get the kids to calm down with only a little work...

"Kazuki, I swear he's got it wrong!"

"How the hell did I get it wrong? What, you two were practicing CPR or something?"

"We...we weren't..."

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa! Tetsu, chill, you don't have to hurt him!"

I rounded the corner to the eldest Kikumaru son's room just in time to get the full blast of the roar. _What the hell have the two of you been doing in my bed when I leave for the night?"_

"I don't suppose everyone could calm down for a second?" I interrupted, feeling none too at-ease myself. Still, I'd never seen Eiji's face so pale, his eyes so panicked. I had to say _something_, even if it was something stupid.

Which apparently that was. "Sure, all right, fine. I'll calm down." Eiji's brother sneered, turning his anger on me. "You. Get out of our house."

"Tetsu, no!"

The eldest Kikumaru son reached a hand out to Eiji and squeezed his shoulder. His voice was steady, but his face clearly showed his confusion. I wondered if he had any idea what was going on. "Eiji. It's all right."

"No it's _not!"_ My partner's voice broke, and a piece of my heart did, too. "It's _not_ okay, we weren't doing _anything_ and he won't let me explain and I...I..."

He turned to me, blue eyes filled with anguish and terror, and practically screamed the next words in my face, though I doubted they were aimed at me at all. "You _aren't leaving!"_

_Oh god..._ It hurt so much. I wanted to just wrap my arms around him and protect him (_From what?_ a part of me whispered, and I didn't know...), but I couldn't. Everything had gone so wrong so fast, and I didn't know how to deal with it. That must've been why I said it...because it hurt more than anything to say what I did a moment later, but even though every part of me was trying to help, my instincts kept screaming it was the wrong thing to do. "I don't want to, but...this is between family." I had to swallow to keep from losing my composure even more. "Maybe I should go."

Eiji's mouth dropped open, and his eyes blazed, but instead of lashing out at me he whirled again and threw himself at his brother. "Look what you've done now! This is all your fault, all of it-"

"Sure, _my_ fault." Eiji was pushed away with a derisive, disgusted snort, and a harsh laugh. "You two were half-naked in there, don't even _try_ and tell me that was somehow my fault!"

I could hear footsteps running up the stairs behind me, and a split second later a female voice called out nervously from behind me. "What's going on up there?"

"We heard shouting..." Eiji's sisters passed me and froze. Aoi looked totally at a loss. "Are you _fighting?"_

"Oh, no," Eiji moaned, covering his face, "go away, all of you, just go away and leave us alone. Oishi!"

His brother exploded again, completely. "There is no way in _hell_ I am leaving you two alone to have sex in _my_ room!"

_"What?"_ one of the girls shrilled, just as Eiji yelled for his brother to shut _up_, hadn't he done enough, and I shouted, "We were _not_ doing that!"

"Then what the hell _were_ you doing?" Tetsu demanded.

The room fell silent immediately and all eyes turned towards Eiji. I'd thought he looked bad before, but now he looked a complete wreck. His eyes were too bright, conflicted, aching, his lips worked but no sound came out, and his whole body trembled. He looked at me, and now I knew with utter certainty that I couldn't leave him now, or even after all of this. Those completely un-Eiji-like eyes met mine for a moment, and a hint of an answer fell from his lips. "We...we were..."

He stopped, and closed his eyes. The tone he used was probably meant to be defiant, but it only sounded petulant and afraid, and his voice was shaking and far too quiet. It was like listening to a different person altogether. "We were just kissing, that's all."

Three out of four sets of eyes went wide at that, but still no one said anything. Eiji opened his eyes, his body so tense I wondered if he would break if I touched him, and looked around nervously. The silence was almost worse than the shouting had been only moments before.

At long last, his brother let out an angry sigh. "Shirtless."

Eiji's voice was still small, and he didn't take his eyes from mine. "Fine. We were kissing shirtless. That's it. I swear, Tetsu."

I coughed, and suddenly five pairs of eyes were locked on me. It was a bit unnerving. "Ah..." I cleared my throat and tried a joking smile. I'm pretty sure I failed. "To be fair, Eiji's shirt was still on."

Furious eyes turned on mine, and Tetsu's wrath redirected itself. "Get out. This has nothing to do with you."

Eiji was still shaking where he stood, and maybe that's where the words came from. I don't know. I was just as shocked when I spoke as anyone else was, truth be told. "Given that I was the one Eiji...well, it does have to do with me."

Those eyes burned into me. Blue, the same blue as the boy I loved, but these eyes weren't filled with laughter and false drama and faith, but fury and hatred and disgust. The moment went on forever. Some moments are brief but last eternally, but this wasn't one of those. The silence stretched and thickened long enough to hear all of the seconds ticking by on the bedside clock until at long last, Eiji's brother spoke without looking at anyone but me. "Kazuki, I'm bringing the extra futon in here tonight."

"Hey, wa-"

"You can move downstairs if you want." The words were like knives, slicing their way into our ears whether we wanted to hear or not. "I'm not sleeping in there tonight and no one's making me!"

He clenched his fists and fled the room. I stepped aside more from surprise than instinct. I thought he was just going to storm out...but he left as if he we afraid to stay in there.

Afraid to be near us. Afraid to be near his own brother.

The two eldest Kikumaru siblings exchanged a glance, and Kazuki followed only a bit more sedately. "Tetsu, just wait up for one second. Let's talk downstairs, all right?"

During all of this, Eiji hadn't moved. He finally looked up at the wall, his voice tired enough to send my heart racing with fear. "I'm going to bed."

He wandered past us listlessly, eyes unfocused, and my heart broke.

The two girls looked at each other, then at me, and at each other again. Aoi finally broke the silence. "Um...Oishi?"

"It's all right," I all but whispered. "I can call my mother, you don't need to give me-"

"We weren't asking you to leave!" she cried insistently, shaking her head. "I...well..." She coughed, and turned bright red, but the weak, genuine smile on her face warmed up the entire room. "This isn't the time, and I know Eiji's my brother and all, but if he weren't...I mean..." She let out a slightly hysterical giggle. "My friends and I would probably be asking if we could watch next time?"

I stared at her in open shock, and both girls wrapped their arms around me. I didn't know who spoke, but the simple acceptance in those words and their embrace dispelled any doubts I had about following their advice.

"Stay tonight, please? Help him?"

* * *

I didn't make my way back to Eiji's room until long after the girls departed. I started shaking the moment they left, my knees going weak, and I simply couldn't stand for a long time. The shouting downstairs was nothing compared to earlier, even from a distance, but I could only move without feeling the world spin when it began to fade away again.

Eiji's open, welcoming gaze didn't greet me as I entered. Nor did any sort of gaze whatsoever. He lay on his side on upper bunk (had I ever been up there before? Did it matter?), turned towards the wall so that all I could see was the top of his head and the line of his back facing me. He didn't move until I spoke. "Can I come in?"

Eiji sat up, eyes red-rimmed and startling against his pale face. His entire face quivered for a moment before he spoke. "Tetsu came in with Kazuki to get his things. Kazuki...he said he was just made about us using his bed, that it would be the same if it were with a girl. Did he tell the truth?"

I thought about the disgust in his brother's eyes as he turned on me, and wondered if I should tell him that it was a lie. Or maybe it was true, but that didn't change the fact that everything was made worse by the fact that I was the one on the other end of that kiss and not some girl from class. In the end, it didn't matter, though. I hadn't even had time to hesitate before Eiji spoke again, and this time his voice did break.

"I thought they were coming back again when you came in."

He buried his head in his hands and I crossed the room without thinking, pulling myself awkwardly onto a bunk I barely knew to wrap my arms around him. Eiji didn't sob, or wail, or make hardly any sound at all. He just buried his head against my shoulder and shook, tears staining my school shirt and leaving a damp patch where he lay. The only sound he made was a single whispered plea.

"Please don't leave me alone with this."

I didn't have to answer. Nothing short of death could have torn me away from him then.


	14. Chapter Twelve: Everywhere With You

_Author's Note: Last full chapter...um...yeah...not sure how to feel about that. This has not only been my most popular story, but it's one of the ones I'm most proud of. In fact, of everything I written, this ranks in the top five, behind Spinning Wheel, Silent All These Years, and A Little Night Music...and two of those I started quite a bit after beginning this one. There are so many reasons for me to be proud of this fic, whether or not anyone or even myself like it; writing these characters without submitting to the usual fanfic clichés meant walking a very thin line, I'd never before written a story with fairly average teenage BOYS as the main characters, much less in first person, and you know, through this entire thing I never DID figure out what the plot was! I just went from chapter to chapter, which makes it also the first fic I wrote that wasn't about plot devices and chapter-to-chapter cliffhangers and shocks, but just something simple, basic, and really rather boring...because really, romance and getting together with someone you love IS boring, except to the two people in involved. That was the big challenge with this fic, and the fact that I was able to write it at all and somehow keep it interesting is the biggest reason for me to be proud of it. And then when all of you started saying that it wasn't just me that was enjoying the story, but you all were as well and thought it was good, it was an amazing experience for me._

_On the other hand, it was getting difficult to keep this monster going, and with all the craziness that has happened to me in the last three years, it will be a bit of a relief to not have to struggle to write with an innocence that I definitely no longer feel myself. Still, we've have a good run, and I have good news! First; as this is the last full chapter, it will be much longer than the other ones thus far, even chapter six. Second; there WILL be a small epilogue about the same length as the interludes after this, which will mark the final end of this fic. And third and finally; the end of this fic marks the beginning of a new endeavor! I have to finish this semester, complete with a recital, and get used to working both of my new jobs in addition to updating a few others WIPs, so there will probably be some time off between the end of this and the start of the new piece, but come New Year's 2008, you all can expect the first chapter of the __**sequel!**__ Yep...you heard right...sequel. It'll be set in college, so the characters will be a bit more jaded and therefore more comfortable for me to write now, but the "plot" really won't vary much from this one, and hopefully you all will enjoy it as much as you did this one. Keep an eye out for "A Greater Whole" by September, and enjoy the end of "The Other Half." This time it's Eiji again...both he and Oishi wish you all a fond farewell until next time!_

**Chapter Twelve: Everywhere With You**

_I've held you too many times to count  
I think I know you inside out  
And we're together most days  
But I still love to have you around._

-Gwen Stefani, "The Real Thing"

I pulled my knees up to my chest from my perch on the desk chair and tried to keep my voice as neutral as possible. "So...you're sure you don't mind?"

My brother looked up from making his new bed and grinned at me before looking away too quickly. "Moving out of my own private room, you mean? Only a little bit. But you know, Tetsu's the only one of us who hasn't ever had his own room. It's his turn."

"I never had my own room."

"You will next year. You're going to have the entire house to yourself for a bit soon enough. And you had a room to yourself when you were a baby, anyway, and Tetsu and I had to share when he was born since we were living in the old apartment at the time, so don't try to use this to get your own room." He winked at me and this time I was sure of it--there was definitely some confusion on his face when he looked at me. "You're stuck with me until I leave for the university."

_And that way we have a way to keep an eye on your boy-macking exploits,_ my mind finished rather cruelly, and I almost winced. That wasn't fair at all. Tetsu was the only one acting like I had a contagious disease. Everyone else was being preternaturally nice about the whole thing...everyone who knew, anyway. Dad was pretty angry with all of us for not explaining why we were moving rooms and eating meals with only part of the family there, and my grandparents were confused for the same reasons. At least my aunt and uncle were acting like nothing new was going on. Then again, Aunt Mitsuki was pretty perceptive about things. She might not be as in the dark as we thought.

But really...just because Tetsu was freaking out didn't mean everyone else thought I was disgusting, right? The fact that Kazuki seemed perpetually confused around me now, and Aoi kept shooting me conspiratorial glances and practically forcing her old issues of BeXBoy into my hands, and Wakana was acting like a cross between a shrink and Mom if she'd learned we were all dying of a terminal illness whenever she so much as said hello to me...all of that was probably completely unrelated to this entire mess. Probably. Maybe. In an alternate universe. One where I was an only child and an orphan.

I made myself smile back at my brother. "Fine, bore me with details. I get it."

My brother snorted sarcastically, the most normal thing he'd done around me during the entire room move, and Mom peeked into the room. "Kazuki? You have a phone call."

"Is it-"

"It's not Reika, it's Tanaka about that class project."

"All right." My brother glanced at me with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'll finish getting everything put away in a minute."

I made myself roll my eyes at him. _Stop treating me like I'm about to break!_ "Right, right, go take your break."

My mother shot me a strange look as they left the room, and I tried to look perplexed in response. The bitterness must not have been as well hidden as I'd hoped.

Once their footsteps receded down the stairs, I slipped out of my room and headed towards the girls'. The door was already open, but I hesitated for a moment just the same before peeking in. "H-hello? Are-"

Both of my sisters looked up from their studies--Wakana at her desk, and Aoi lying on her stomach on her bed--and grinned. Aoi sat up and waved me in. "You're not interrupting. Come on in."

I stepped through the doorway, but the urgency I'd felt during the entire move was suddenly damped by nerves and discomfort with the whole situation. "I was just wondering if I could borrow-"

"I've got the final volume of Ichigenme wa Yaruki no Minpou if you want to borrow it," she interrupted with a grin. "You liked the other Yoshinaga stuff you borrowed a few months ago, so-"

"The phone," I finished hastily, wishing I dared yell at her to just shut _up_, I didn't want to be the stereotypical gay-best-friend-brother-whatever, and wanting more than anything to get away from Wakana's suddenly embarrassed and pitying gaze. "The house line's being used."

Wakana picked up the extra phone from her desk and leaned back to pass it to me before Aoi could make any comments about phone sex. "Here you go. Don't stay on too long, you know Dad doesn't like us using it for social stuff too much."

"It's for tennis anyway, but it won't take long."

Aoi sent me a knowing look, and I hurried out before I exploded at her. The bathroom was the nearest unoccupied room, and most likely the _only_ unoccupied room, so I swung inside and locked the door without a second thought before anyone else could come by.

When I dialed the phone number, it was with a desperation that left my hands shaking so badly that I had to redial at least two times before I got it right. I _had_ to get out of the house. I had to distract myself from all this...this...all of this! I wanted to smile without crying on the inside again, I wanted this fear of my own brothers and sisters to be false and superficial again, I wanted...I wanted to...

The receiver clicked softly in my ear. "Hello?"

"Oh! Um, hello?" I swallowed, and tried to cover my startlement. "Is Oishi there?"

"Which one?" came the teasing, very young reply. "_I'm_ Oishi."

Normally, I'd probably tease Oishi's sister a little more. Lately, though... "Funny. Will you please get your brother for me, please?"

There was a whisper of sound as she took the phone away from her ear, muttering. "Jeez, what's his problem today? _Syuuichiro!_ Kikumaru is on the phone!" Then she was back, speaking completely normally again. "He's in the other room. Just a moment please."

That moment was one of the most nerve-wracking of my life. I kept waiting for someone to knock on the door and ask what was going on in there. But I'd only been on the phone for less than a minute. There was no reason for anything to happen yet.

Well, look at that. My family was finally driving me crazy for real this time.

A faint voice in the background of the phone flitted into my hearing and my heart soaked it up like it was dying of thirst. "All right, I have it. Don't act so annoyed, he's probably just busy or something. Hello? Eiji?"

And the world righted itself again. "Hey, Oishi. How're things?"

"Fine, of course. How are you?"

I wanted to dissolve into tears. His voice was so warm, welcoming, and just so _natural_. It had only been a week or so since all of this happened and I still felt completely starved for just simple, easy conversation that wasn't loaded with hidden meaning and assumptions. Oh man, I'd needed that so badly. "I..."

I swallowed, this time because those tears that I would not cry were choking me and stopping my words. There was an audible click in my throat when I did so. "I'm fine. No, wait, I'm _not_ fine. Oishi, are you busy right now?"

"Do you want me to come over? I'm watching my sister but she won't mind coming along if I take her by the crepes stand on our way back home."

Just like that, without any hesitation on his part. I was going to cry. I was _not_ allowed to cry here, where someone was bound to notice and tell everyone else, leading to even more awkwardness that I just did not need at all, but I was going to cry anyway. He was busy and he still asked if I needed him before even mentioning the fact. "Thanks, but that's okay. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to come by. It would make things uncomfortable. Seriously uncomfortable."

There was a moment of silence, and I knew Oishi was hearing what I wasn't saying; that it would make my brother angry all over again, than my sister wouldn't give us a moment's peace, or worse, would be so obvious in trying to get us alone together that my father might figure out what was going on...among other things. "Eiji, what's going on over there?"

"What isn't?" I sighed in frustration. "Tetsu refuses to share a room with me anymore, so Kazuki's having to change rooms, Aoi keeps trying to turn me into a bad manga stereotype, Wakana and Kazuki are walking on eggshells around me, Dad has no idea what's going on and so he's snapping at everyone, my grandparents are miserable with all the fighting...Oishi...it's...bad." My eyes burned. "It's gotten so bad so fast and I don't know what to do. I'm going crazy here. I wish none of this had ever happened!"

The last bit came out almost as a scream, and as my voice cracked I slumped against the wall and pressed my free hand over my eyes, physically holding back tears as my shoulders shook and dry sobs tore their way out of my throat. This was not happening. None of this could be happening. I joked around, I pouted, I pretended to be horribly offended by things and childish, but I was just as embarrassed as anyone else on the team about actually crying. And even if my family was nuts, I still loved them. All of this discord was killing me. I wanted things to go back to the way there were. Everything had been so wonderful before...

_I wish none of this had ever happened!_

On the other end of the line, Oishi was silent except for the faint sound of his breathing. Nothing he could have said would have helped, and even in the midst of all the internal agony, a tiny part of me was grateful to him for not calling attention to the situation. I just stood there, shaking and pressing my fingers against my eyelids till I saw sparks and clinging to the phone like it was a lifeline, for who knows how long until there was nothing left and the danger of tears had long since passed. And I breathed, working to regain my composure, while that same time part of my marveled that through it all, Oishi has practically been breathing for me.

"Sorry. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be." Oishi sounded calm, but something was off. It was very slight, so that I wondered if I was imagining it, but there was something strange about his voice. "So you don't want me to come over, and I can't have you over here because my sister isn't allowed to have any friends over tonight and she'll be impossible to deal with if I have one come by. Do you want to meet up somewhere for a bit?"

I _had_ to be imagining things. He sounded like he hoped I would say no. "I can't. I really want to, but Dad says we all have to help with Kazuki's move to my room."

"Gotcha. That's not cool." Did he sound relieved? "Is there anything else I could do to help?"

I didn't really have to think for very long. What I really needed was to get out of the house, but since there was no way that was happening... "This helps."

"All right. That's good. I'm glad. Oh, do you hear the latest news about Tezuka?"

"No! I haven't had a chance to talk to Fuji with all the exams this week. What's going on?"

"Ryuzaki-sensei got an update from the clinic about how the treatments are going..."

It took another twenty minutes or so before my mother picked up the other phone and told me to get off and go back to helping my brother. By then, I felt a little more ready to face the weirdness. We kept the goodbyes short and friendly, just in case anyone was listening outside the door at either of our houses (or at least that was my reasoning) and I stared at the phone for a good, long moment before daring to exit the bathroom. The smile was small and shaky, but it was more real than any expression I'd worn in a week.

Later I would wonder why Oishi had been so insistent at keeping the subject on lighter stuff, but right then it didn't even register. I was too happy to have that good of a friend to even realize that something was wrong.

* * *

"Here. My father made these fresh for everyone today."

It's amazing how fast a bunch of hungry teenage boys can move when food is involved. Kawamura had enough practice to move out of the way before we crushed him and his dad's sushi feast, but he still had a look of panic on his face. I would have laughed at his expression, but I'd just noticed something that made me too depressed to even imagine it. "Oohhhh, no! They all have sesame seeds?"

"I...I guess." Kawamura looked stricken. "Is that a problem?"

I fell backwards, flinging an arm across my eyes dramatically. "They're worse than sprouts! Those things are impossible to get out of your teeth!"

"Don't you floss?" Momoshiro asked curiously, just as Inui chimed in with, "Floss is 98.6 percent effective..."

I shot Fuji a look, but he just smiled at me mildly. I don't know how he did it, I really don't, but I _knew_ he was behind this somehow.

Thankfully, I was spared answering when Kawamura found the container of basic, unadorned sashimi-style and passed it to me with an apologetic smile. "You can have mine. I like sesame seeds."

I glanced over at Oishi with a wink and a grin, which he half-heartedly returned before moving more sedately over to pick out his choices. And that was not right. That was not right at all.

It had been happening all day, too. Then again, he had been sick the day before, too sick to even come to school. His pale face and quietness argued for illness...the fact that he was acting totally normally when I wasn't around said otherwise. But it was possible he felt more poorly than he had said that morning.

I crawled back over to my seat and told myself to relax. I was jumping at shadows, worrying about things that weren't there. Time to snap out of it. No one here thought I was someone I wasn't. _Chill, Kikumaru._

I popped another piece of sushi into my mouth and ran the tip of my tongue between my teeth to clean out the rice. "Who else already had their English exam today?"

That started everyone else on the subject of exams...except for Oishi. And that was _really_ not right. He reacted to things, but he wasn't responding normally at all. _What is going on here?_ Was he really that sick? Or was it something else?

Oishi was sitting across from me between Momoshiro and Kaidoh, keeping the peace, more or less, but he was near enough. I leaned across the distance between us too quickly for him to react and flicked a finger against his forehead. "Oooooishiii, anybody home?"

Oishi jumped, but instead of smiling and coming out of his stupor, he actually flinched back away from me. He _flinched._ Even Momo shot him a look of confusion, and I could see Fuji's smile fade briefly and Inui bend over his notebook with sudden interest. Oishi wouldn't meet my eyes. "Sorry. I must be more worried about my exam results that I thought. Did you say something, Eiji?"

He was a terrible liar. I was better, or at least good enough that he didn't notice. "Nah. Just wondering why you were so spacey. I don't know why _you're_ worried, Oishi, you always get high scores."

"Well, don't you want to be a doctor?" Takashi asked him curiously. "You have to get into good schools for that."

"I don't know really," Oishi replied, bringing a hand to his forehead and rubbing it absently. "We have years to decide what we want to do with our lives, right?"

"Why not now?" Momo shot back. "I already know what I'm planning to do."

Echizen smirked over the top of his Ponta, and Momo immediately turned to him. "What? Hey, if you're not eating that o-toro..."

"No."

As the rest of the group went back to their normal chattering, I tried not to be too obvious in watching Oishi. We were the only two who weren't paying attention to the conversation. I was too busy trying to unobtrusively catch his eye. At long last, though, I gave up. It wasn't that he didn't notice what I was doing. He wouldn't look at me at all. He was avoiding me. And I had no idea why.

Last time he'd been like this had been...it seemed like forever ago that we'd fought, when I thought he didn't want to be friends anymore. Like he was hiding something from me. Like he was afraid of me.

I had never been so glad when lunch ended and it was time to head to class. Fuji didn't speak as we left the rest of the group at the building, and neither did I.

* * *

He wasn't there when it was time to go home. I waited, I checked every possible exit, and I was still looking when Fuji found me and told me that Oishi had already left. No teasing, no all-knowing smile, nothing like normal…he just looked at me sadly and said I should go home before it started to rain. He even offered to walk with me, since everyone else had gone by then. I wondered if my voice sounded as blank as I felt when I told him no.

The walk home seemed much longer by myself. It was an effort to pick my feet up when I knew what awaited me there. Stress, anger, frustration, confusion, all aimed at me. _What a loving, supportive family I have._

I didn't even care how uncharitable the thought was, or that it wasn't even close to true. I didn't think about the fact that my mother was being more than wonderful about this whole thing and that my three oldest siblings were all trying to be supportive, even if they weren't doing the greatest job of it. I was going through all of this for no reason, now. Would that make any difference to my brothers and sisters? Would they just forget the whole thing if they knew that Oishi didn't want me around anymore?

I shied away from that last thought as if it burned. _Yeah, right._ Aoi would probably bemoan the loss of her personal fan service and Tetsu would still treat me like I was contagious.

Were they the reason Oishi was avoiding me?

I didn't have an answer to that.

With a start, I realize I wasn't anywhere near my home despite how long I'd been walking. I wasn't anywhere near anything I recognized. I was lost. It didn't surprise me in the least. I felt lost, or off-balance at least. Not depressed. Just…aimless, and a little bit cold.

By the time I finally made it home, dinner had already started. I started to detour through the kitchen to spare everyone my brother's new response to having to eat with me there, but my father looked up before I could, his expression more than a little annoyed. "You're very late, Eiji."

"Sorry." I sat and held out my hands while my mother passed me the covered dishes she'd saved for me. "I got lost."

Tetsu muttered something that I couldn't hear across the table, and Kazuki jabbed him in the side. "Knock it off."

"This curry is delicious," my aunt commented, seemingly oblivious. "Is it a new recipe?"

"No, but I did buy a different type of meat this time." My mother sent me a quick, natural smile, and I relaxed just a hair. "Since the boys kept complaining about it last time."

"We were just joking, Mom."

"Maybe you should think about whether or not I can tell next time, Kazuki."

Aoi leaned onto her elbows and smiled in my direction. "So," she asked brightly, "how was school?"

I rolled my eyes. "It was _school_. How do you think?"

"Elbows off the table, both of you."

"Sorry, Mom."

"Pass the potatoes, please," my grandmother interrupted. The momentary shuffling of dishes silenced most of the table for a moment. I could have kissed her in gratitude for stopping that conversation before it got started.

And then my sister opened her mouth again. "Did anything good happen today, then?"

I stared at her warily. "What do you mean?"

"You know…" She waved a hand airily and winked at me. I wanted to dump her curry over her head. "Anything…interesting? Spend any fun time with your friends?"

The table shook as furious hands slammed down onto it next to her. "Oh, for crying out loud!"

"Tetsu!" my grandmother chided, even as Aoi said, "Hey, I was just _asking…"_

"What do you think he's going to say?" Tetsu demanded. "That he videotaped a makeout session for you? I'm trying to _eat_!"

"That was completely uncalled for," my grandfather snapped. "Apologize to your sister."

"You wouldn't be taking _their _side if you knew what happened," Tetsu grumbled as he slumped down into his seat.

"That. Is. _It."_

All eyes turned to my oldest sister as Wakana shouted. She glared at my brother with disgust. "Grow up, will you? You're the one picking all the fights and overreacting to _every stupid little thing_. Just chill the hell out already!"

"Language," my aunt chided weakly, as if she were too surprised to really mean it. I didn't blame her. My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of my head. Wakana never yelled like that!

"And Aoi, lay off! That's out brother you're talking about. It's getting just sick." She made a face. "Besides, it's Eiji's life. He can decide what he wants to talk to you about and what he doesn't. Let him have some privacy for Pete's sake and leave him alone for a while" She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I'm just sick and tired of this. Get a life already, both of you."

"I'm just trying to help!" Aoi yelled back at her, wounded.

"I was perfectly happy," Tetsu snapped at the same time, pointing at me, "until he brought his _private life_ into my room-"

"Either you explain what all this is about," my father roared, "or all of you settle down and let us have a nice, quiet family meal for a change!"

That was it. I heard my mother whisper for him to calm down, but I had already pushed myself violently back from the table and stood, suddenly furious.

"_Fine."_

"Eiji," my aunt cautioned, "sit down, please."

"I'm not sitting down." Every part of me seemed to be shaking, from anger or fear, I couldn't tell which. I shot a look at my siblings that had them shrinking back in their seats. "It's all my fault anyway, for being a disgusting freak of nature, right, Tetsu?"

My brother actually winced then. Good. I hoped he wanted to die. As I glared at him, shaking, he couldn't seem to meet my eyes, but I could hear him clearly. "You started it."

My father's voice rose up again, like fury incarnate. "Eiji, stop being dramatic and _sit down."_

"Tetsu caught me kissing Oishi in our room last time he stayed the night!" I shouted back as I glared at my brother. _"There_. Happy?"

I dropped heavily into my chair again and stared at my curry sullenly in the echoing silence.

A million years passed before my father broke the silence. "What was that?"

All of my anger seemed to be draining away. I poked at my food listlessly and my voice sounded tired even to myself. "I said, I'm dating Oishi."

His voice sounded confused, and filled with disbelief. "…Oishi Syuichiro? Your doubles partner?"

"They have been playing together for more than two years now," my mother pointed out gently, as if that explained everything.

"But…" I didn't even have to look up to see how perplexed he was. "Then…Eiji, that means you're…"

I groaned and closed my eyes. "Dad, please don't make me say it again."

"May I be excused?" Tetsu mumbled from across the table. "I don't want to hear any more about this."

No one answered. No on spoke. The room was completely silent except for the faint clink of my chopsticks against my plate as I pushed at my dinner. After a moment, there was a clatter and a squeak as my brother pushed his chair back and left the table.

The silence grew. I switched from poking my perforated curry meat and instead swirled my soup in slow, uncertain circles.

"Eiji," my uncle asked suddenly, "are you sure?"

There was not judgment in his words, jut curiosity and reassurance. It was like he'd also said that no one would care either way, as long as this was what I wanted. I could have jumped up and thrown my arms around him and thanked him, but instead I just nodded.

"But…you've never even had a girlfriend," my dad protested.

My stomach plummeted and my head snapped up in shock. "I've kissed lots of girls!" I cried.

"But not seriously," he pointed out with a look of concentration, as if he till couldn't wrap his mind around the concept. "You never took any girls out on dates."

"What does that have to do with anything?" My voice cracked in desperation.

My father ran a hand over his face tiredly and sighed. "I just…how can you be sure if you haven't looked at the other options?"

My mouth dropped open. It was like something had just been jammed through all of my insides at once. Everything hurt so much that I couldn't even speak. Dad didn't seem to understand my shock. "Eiji, this is just a bit difficult to understand. I'm trying to figure it out…"

"Mom, I'm not really hungry," I muttered, and bolted before anyone could say another word.

I didn't pause for a second, not even when I snatched the phone from its cradle in the kitchen to take up to my room. I wanted out of that room. I wanted to get away from everything I'd started in there before it could hurt anymore. But more than anything, I wanted to fix something, anything, to get rid of this frustration and anger at everything that happened. Something inside of me had snapped, and I had had enough. I needed to do something, and since I couldn't do anything at home with the way things were going, I was going to do something else.

I had the number dialed before I made it to the front foyer, and the phone was answered before I reached the top of the stairs.

"Hello, Oishi residence."

"Mrs. Oishi," I blurted out rather abruptly, "may I speak with your son?"

"Oh, of course." The cheerful tone seemed completely out of place after the tension downstairs. "Just a moment, I'll get him."

I closed the door to my room behind me and locked it. Who cared if I wasn't supposed to lock the door like that? I was tired of hiding in the bathroom, and I wanted some place where I didn't have to worry about every word I spoke echoing so the entire house could hear. Over the phone, I could hear Oishi's mother speaking in the background and a low response that I couldn't make out. I leaned against the ladder of the bed, and then bounced up and away, pacing the room nervously. I couldn't stand still.

When Oishi's mother finally spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, but Syuichiro can't come to the phone right now."

"_Why?"_ The word burst out of me pleadingly before I even knew I was going to say it. It was rude, but I didn't know what else to say.

A pause. "He says he's working on catching up on the homework he missed yesterday. Eiji, is there something wrong?"

Maybe it was the way she said my name. Maybe it was just the kindness and concern in her voice, completely without strings attached. For whatever reason, my throat closed up and I found myself fighting against tears again. But I wasn't going to cry. Crying wasn't going to help anything, and I was sick of not doing anything to fix what was wrong. Instead, I just sat there in silence and waited for the lump in my throat to dissolve.

When I didn't reply, a sigh drifted over the phone lines. This time, when Oishi's mother spoke, she really was whispering. "My husband and I are going out tonight while Syuichiro watches his sister. We should be back by ten or so. I'm sure he'll be finished with his homework by the time we get home. Why don't you try back then?"

I nodded, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see me. "Thank you. I'll try back then."

"If there's anything wrong, please don't hesitate to ask."

I made a noncommittal sound of farewell, hung up, and hurried back down the stairs. As much as I appreciated the sentiment in that advice, I had no intention of waiting until ten o'clock to try again.

As I shrugged on my windbreaker and dropped the phone on one of the tables in the foyer, my mother entered almost silently and gently touched my shoulder. "Eiji, what are you doing?"

"I'm going for a run." It wasn't entirely a lie. I just didn't think it was a good idea to tell her where I was running to just that second.

"Eiji, come talk to your father and I."

The stupid zipper on my jacket wasn't working. I looked up to see a misty drizzle dripping down the small window by the door and groaned. "Oh, just great. Not now, Mom. Please."

My mother's voice was quiet but commanding. "He didn't mean to upset you. You just have to give him a chance. Give him a little bit of time. He still loves you, Eiji."

I thought back to the perplexed look on my father's face and saying he was trying to figure things out, and suddenly felt guilty. At the same time, though, I couldn't bring myself to face him again yet. I didn't think I could take any more hurtful statements, even if they weren't meant to be. "I'll talk to him, I promise. I just need to clear my head first." I looked over my shoulder to meet her eyes. "Please?"

For all her small size, my mother looked pretty intimidating. After a moment, though, she reached out to zip up my jacket for me. "Don't stay out too long. I expect you to talk to him when you get back."

My stomach flipped over with nerves, but I remembered what I was about to do and steeled myself against them. "Thanks."

"Eiji, take an umbrella!" she yelled after me as I took off our the door, but I was around the corner and gone before she could come after me.

* * *

Even with the rain, it didn't take long to get to Oishi's house. Maybe the rain even helped…I couldn't slow down if I didn't want to get completely soaked. I was breathless and my lungs felt like they had knives in them by the time I arrived, but I'd kept running the entire way.

Oishi's parents' car was still in the driveway when I snuck past the sound wall and into the yard, but even as I ducked down beside the bushes, the door opened and they made their way outside, laughing beneath the same umbrella. _Oishi and I used to do that_, I thought, and then shook off the start of that depression again and focused instead on breathing more evenly again.

The minute the car had backed out of the driveway and disappeared off down the street, I snuck over to the door and shook the rain out of my hair. As I reached for the doorbell, my heart pounded and I suddenly wondered if this was a good idea. Maybe I should just go home and try calling again later, like his mother had suggested. What if this just made things worse?

I tried to pull back, but my arm didn't want to obey me. A shaky finger pressed against the button and the bell rang.

Before I could make my legs unlock and run, the door opened. "Did you forget…oh!" Oishi's little sister stared up at me in surprise, and then stepped to the side so I could come in. "I thought you were Mom. Oishi didn't say you were coming over," she added petulantly. "I wasn't allowed to have any friends over tonight."

"I just had a question about school," I began, and then Oishi was rounding the corner. "You know you aren't supposed to answer the door when Mom and Dad are gone, R-oh."

My partner stopped in his tracks and stared at me blankly before forcing a smile. "Hey, Eiji. What are you doing here?"

A cold chill ran through me when I saw how bad Oishi really looked right then. He was still too pale, and in the electric light the circles under his eyes were much more pronounced than they'd seemed at lunch. But I was there already…I was inside, even. This wasn't the time to turn and run. I stood my ground.

"How come you get to have friends visit when I don't?" Oishi's sister complained, and stalked out of the room indignantly, leaving us both alone together.

Oishi's smile wavered for a moment. "You're soaked," he said unnecessarily, and turned towards the hallway again. "Let me just get you a towel and-"

"Oishi," I interrupted quickly, "why are you avoiding me?"

That stopped him mid-step and he froze, back still towards me. I pushed onward, the words spilling out too quickly and making it hard to speak clearly. "Don't say you haven't been. I know you have. Why are you avoiding me? What's going on? Why won't you tell me? Is something wrong with you? You have to tell me…"

I trailed off, and the last word slipped out despite my best intentions. "Please?"

I couldn't make out his reply. I wouldn't have even known he'd spoken if I couldn't see the line of his jaw move with the words. On impulse, I darted around him so that we were face to face again. "Please tell me, Oishi, I…I need to know, please."

Those vivid eyes were focused firmly on the floor, and Oishi's voice was still barely audible. "I thought…it was what you wanted."

_That_ was so unexpected that I almost lost my balance in surprise. Of all the answers I'd imagined…well, this wasn't one I'd even thought of. "You thought," I began slowly, "that I wanted you to avoid me?"

"I thought you wanted me to leave you alone," he corrected softly.

I made an effort to reconnect my jaw again. "Why would you think that?" I asked, completely shocked. "I…why?"

For just a second, Oishi's eyes flickered up to meet mine, and then away again. This time when he spoke, his voice was stronger, and I suddenly could hear the pain in it. "You said…you told me you wished none of this ever happened."

The world flipped over, swayed, and righted itself again, and suddenly everything made sense. And I felt awful.

"Oishi…" Without thinking, I reached out and rested my hands on his shoulders. And then I shook him. "Oishi, you idiot! How could you think I meant you? How could you honestly believe I meant you?"

At last he looked up at me, eyes startled. "Well, you said…"

"I meant everything with my brother, you idiot," I yelled, not sure whether to laugh or cry or beg for forgiveness for my words. "I didn't want you to leave me alone! I said I don't know what to do when you aren't with me, you jerk, don't you remember?"

With a small frustrated scream, I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face against his shoulder. Oishi stiffened for a moment in my embrace, and my heart stopped…until he carefully wrapped his arms around me and held me in return.

I turned my face and pressed it against the side of his neck, breathing him in desperately, afraid he would disappear if I opened my eyes. "I'm never letting you leave me alone," I whispered fiercely. "I never meant I didn't want you. I never meant it like that. I love you too much, you moron, so remember that next time."

Oishi's hand touched the back of my neck for a moment, and then fell. He gently pushed me back and studied me with exhausted eyes.

"What about your family?"

I tensed, and had to force myself to not look away from his gaze. "Well," I replied, trying to make a joke of it, "at least they all know now. Mom's curry had a truth serum in it, nya."

Oishi shook his head and continued to stare at me nervously. "Eiji."

So much for trying to keep it light. "I don't know. I think it's just my brother who minds. It shouldn't matter, though." I ran a hand through my hair and had to look away. "It shouldn't matter, but it does."

Oishi was silent for a moment, and for a second I was afraid I'd hurt him again, without meaning to. "After that happened," he finally said with a faint quiver in his voice, "I was afraid you might, you know…have second thoughts," he finished lamely. "When you said you wished none of it had ever happened, I thought you'd decided it…this…us…that it wasn't worth it. Not if it made things hard for your family."

"Oishi-"

"I would have understood if you had," he continued quickly. "Sometimes I worry…what would happen if my parents found out? I mean…" He laughed, a harsh bark of a sound. "I'm their only son. How would they react if they knew they weren't going to have grandchildren?"

"We could adopt," I pointed out with a weak smile.

"That's not the point." Oishi pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes and breathed deeply. "I'd be afraid to disappoint them. And what about my sister? Could I really be happy if I knew she was getting teased for having a gay brother?"

I took a step back, unsure of what I could say that would help at all…after all, I couldn't even get my own family to calm down, and I didn't have to worry about not carrying on the family name or embarrassing any younger siblings that I was supposed to protect or anything. The second I moved, Oishi reached out and clutched at my forearms, pulling me close and squeezing me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe. "I don't know how to tell them," he murmured. "And I hate knowing I made things harder for you."

Somehow, I kept from squirming. "They're my family. You don't have to deal with them if you don't want to."

"That's not the issue," he whispered into my hair. "Eiji, I don't care what your family thinks. I don't care if your brother throws me out of the window every time I come over to your house. I'll be here for you…as long as you want me to be."

Even though I could still feel how cold he was, even with the implications of his words…that he'd leave if I asked him to…I suddenly felt much warmer. "Same here," I muttered. "And screw my brother. I love you. That means he'll have to deal."

Oishi let out a slow, shaky breath, and I could feel him smile against the crown of my head. "Same here."

I don't know how long we stood there in the foyer. I could hear sound from the other room where Oishi's sister was watching television, and outside there was the whoosh of cars passing by in the light rain.

And right next to me, so close I could feel it as well as hear it, Oishi's heart beat against my own.

"I'm sorry," I whispered at last. "I didn't think about what I was saying."

Oishi didn't have to say anything. The fact that he didn't let me go was answer enough. "I don't like the idea of you walking home in the dark."

"I'll be fine. It's safe enough."

"Not if a car hit's a slippery spot on the road and runs into you," he pointed out, and I had to smile. That was the Oishi I was used to. "I'll call your mom to come get you."

"Do you really have to?"

We were both too tired to laugh, but I could still feel him smile even before he let me go to look me in the eye. "It'll take her at least fifteen minutes to get here. We can watch TV with my sister until then."

* * *

When I recognized my father's car outside in Oishi's driveway, I thought my heart was going to stop. When Dad stepped into the light of the porch, he looked as uncertain as I felt. _Mom, you sneak_.

Oishi took one look at my sick expression and put an arm around my shoulder comfortingly for just a moment before opening the door. "Thanks for coming, Mr. Kikumaru."

My father shifted nervously on the welcome mat. "No problem. It's pretty wet out there. I'd rather drive out here than worry about Eiji walking home right now."

Oishi nodded solemnly, and I sent him a look of pleading. Oh, come on, I mouthed desperately, but he pointedly looked away. I sighed. "Okay. Just a second, Dad."

My father nodded and looked back at the car for not particular reason. I bit my lip, unsure if this was a good idea, and decided I might as well take advantage of the situation.

I quickly leaned in to press my lips to Oishi's for just a moment. "Love you, Syuichiro," I whispered under my breath.

"You, too," he whispered back, then looked past my shoulder and stepped back suddenly, jamming his hands into his pockets sheepishly. I turned to see my father watching us both without any expression on his face, and mentally kicked myself as hard as I could.

Then my father reached out and put an arm around my shoulder to pull me onto the porch, just like he always had whenever he came to pick me up from practice or a game or even spending time at Oishi's like normal. "Come on," he said quietly, and I knew he really was going to try. "Your mother saved you the rest of your dinner for when we got home."

I nodded, and found myself smiling at him weakly. "Great. I'm starving."

As I closed the car door, I glanced back at Oishi silhouetted in the light of the open doorway, and everything, absolutely everything, felt completely right again. Even when he wasn't there, he was the biggest part of me.

And all of it was completely right.


	15. Epilogue: Sumire

**Epilogue: Sumire**

Telling someone to keep work and romance separate is one of the stupidest and most pointless things you can do. For starters, if you tell a person not to do something, what do they actually do? The exact opposite of what you tell them. It's not in human nature to do as you're told. People would rather realize for themselves that something isn't good for them. They rarely do things just because they're told it's for their own good.

Besides, you can't dictate peoples' emotions. It might be the smart thing to do, but it never works, so why tempt fate?

Of course it's a bad idea to date a co-worker or a teammate or anyone in such a position like that. Most of the time it ruins things for everyone else, especially if there's a fight of the couple breaks up while still working together. That's why I never wanted to teach high school. Bunch of hormonal drama queens as far as I can tell. Junior high is still full of hormones and drama, but at least where romance on the teams is concerned, it's a lot less likely to happen. Everyone's just discovering romance. They're usually either too afraid of being teased by their friends to do anything about it or just not interested. And they get over break-ups faster, too. Better than in high school. Spare yourself the drama while you can.

But I still never say anything to my team about not dating each other. It would just be stupid. Anyone who would get sidetracked on the courts by relationship drama wouldn't be dedicated enough to advance, period, and junior high students are five times as contrary as other human beings so saying anything of the sort would just provoke them. Although it might've been a good idea to make an exception for Sakuno. As much as I love her, how awkward would it be to deal with two more years of her mooning over Ryoma?

Romance and the Seigaku tennis team didn't go together very often. Of course, things happen, and it can be a pain when they do. But there's just no point in trying to regulate emotions. Let the kids learn on their own that it usually doesn't work out to mix romance and work, and they'll stop without fighting against you. And if two people who just happen to work together that closely really do love each other, it isn't right to deny that just because of some silly regulations.

That's why when Oishi came to see me that day, I almost laughed in his face.

It was strange, but since Tezuka had left and Oishi had been made captain in his place, he seemed more nervous around me than before. It might have been his inherent perfectionism, it might have been guilt, but it always took him a little bit before he relaxed around me during meetings and he came to me with little questions more and more frequently, as if he were worried I'd disapprove of initiative. So it was nothing unusual when he came by to find me during lunch one day. It was the reason that made it hard not to laugh at it all.

"Eiji and I would like to know if you want us to stop playing doubles together."

I raised my eyebrows. "No."

It was strange. Oishi looked even more uncomfortable than before. "Ah…are you sure? We understand if-"

"I'm not splitting up my best doubles pair," I answered, leaning forward and studying him curiously. "Is there a reason I should?"

That had him looking positively mortified. "Ryuzaki-sensei, I'm not sure if you're aware of this…" He reached up to scratch at the back of his head and stopped speaking for a maddeningly long time. At last, he took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, ears bright red. "Eiji and I are, ah, involved. In a relationship. Ah, romantically. You see."

…well, I wasn't expecting that as a possible reason. And even then, his question was so ludicrous that I almost laughed out loud. If he hadn't looked so worried and embarrassed, I would have.

Instead, I pressed my lips together and gestured at a chair. "Please sit."

When Oishi was nervous, he didn't really sit. He stood with his legs bent, just barely perched on the edge of the seat. I couldn't blame him for being nervous. I had a feeling he wouldn't even be here if he weren't so strict about details and setting an example for the team. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since…" His eyes wouldn't rise to meet mine. "Ah, since I sprained my wrist."

"So the tournament where we played Hyoutei, then." I willed him to meet my eyes with my own gaze. "That was quite some time ago."

Now he looked up, and the expression on Oishi's face held real panic now. "I'm sorry, I know we should have told you before, but I wasn't sure what to do or if it would be a problem or now and…"

I held up my hands to stop him before he got any more worried. If he didn't relax, I swore he'd blow a vessel in his head. "I haven't noticed any problems during practice."

Oishi opened his mouth, and then closed it again without making a sound.

"If things have continued this long without it affecting the team, why would I break up my strongest doubles pair?"

Now he only looked confused, but his words were still nervous. "I thought…I mean, we thought you might prefer-"

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your playing," I interrupted simply, "there is no problem. Has it?"

"Last week, there was a problem with his family and-"

"And you only missed one day of school," I pointed out with an amused smile. "Oishi, you're worrying too much. Didn't your partner tell you that?"

That stopped his protests cold again, and it took him three tries to speak again. "Well, yes. But I didn't listen. I thought it was better to ask you."

I picked up the stack of papers I had been grading when he had interrupted me and stood. Oishi followed suit, turning on the spot to follow my movements politely. As I passed him, I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Listen to your boyfriend," I advised wryly, and passed on by.

I could feel him gaping behind me, even without seeing his expression. Well, now he knew where I stood.

There's no point in dictating emotions in human beings. Far be it for me to break up the Golden Pair.

It wouldn't work, anyway.


End file.
